MANILA—Smart Gilas Pilipinas offset a cold shooting night with a stellar defensive effort to turn back Iraq’s Duhok, 74-64 and remain unbeaten in the 22nd FIBA Asia Champions Cup Tuesday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.
The Nationals, who led by as much as 15, were put in a precarious position after Duhok came back and pulled to within two, 53-55, in the closing minutes of the third quarter.
But a strong fourth quarter surge anchored by a sturdy defensive stand, had Smart Gilas back and running for a commanding 68-55 on a jumper by Chris Lutz at the 7:47 mark.
“We played a good job defensively but offensively we didn’t, there were a lot of turnovers,” said the Nationals’ coach Rajko Toroman.
The Nationals will clash with Jordan’s ASU tomorrow at 8pm for the top spot in Group A and Toroman knows that it will be the toughest game yet.
“For us the championship starts tomorrow (against Jordan),” said Toroman.
Mark Barroca fired 8 of his 12 points in the fourth quarter on top of eight rebounds while skipper Chris Tiu had 11 markers and nine assists.
American CJ Giles dominated in a losing cause for Duhok with 20 points and 23 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Al Riyadi of Lebanon claimed first place in Group B after nipping Al Rayyan of Qatar, 78-73 in overtime.