Gilas seals semifinal duel vs Mahram

MANILA—Marcus Douthit capped an explosive outing with a slam dunk as Smart Gilas Pilipinas turned back Al Jala’a of Syria, 85-80, last night to reach the semifinals of the Fiba Asia Champions Cup for the first time in three years.

Douthit fired 22 of his 26 points in the final half, his two-handed dunk in the dying seconds sealing a do-or-die semifinal clash today against defending champion Mahram of Iran at the Philsports Arena.

The Iranians had a virtual workout earlier in a 102-65 rout of Saudi Arabia’s Al Ittihad even as Al Riyadi of Lebanon cruised past Duhok of Iraq, 106-80.

The Lebanese, who topped Group B in the eliminations, will next face the winner of the match pitting Al Rayyan of Qatar against ASU of Jordan which was still being played at presstime.

JV Casio, who starred in the Nationals’ group stage clincher over ASU of Jordan, scored four three-pointers to finish with 22 points plus nine assists to help the Nationals rally from 15 points down.

Smart Gilas also held Al Jala’a import Samaki Walker to two points in the fourth after the former NBA journeyman pumped in 23 in the first three quarters at the expense of Asi Taulava and Douthit.

The Nationals go up against Mahram as underdogs since they have yet to beat the Iranians since the Gilas program, geared toward the 2012 London Olympics, began in late 2008.

Two-time champion Mahram is made up mostly of national team players who captured the 2007 and 2009 Fiba Asia Championships.

“That team (Mahram) is better than the national team of Iran. We’ll try to surprise them with our pressure defense,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, who is credited with guiding Iran to the Fiba Asia crown and a stint in the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

The crowd went silent for over five minutes in the second period as the Syrians went on a 13-0 tear with Walker’s slam over Taulava making it 35-20.

Marcio Lassiter then broke the impasse with a sleek move inside the lane, Casio buried a three, and a Dondon Hontiveros’ layup off a break lifted Smart Gilas back into the fight.

Casio’s feed to Japeth Aguilar completed the turnaround and put the PH five on top for the first time, 56-55, before Douthit took over for the Nationals.

With imports Samb Cheikh Tidiane and Christopher Williams virtually unchallenged, the two-time champion Iranians opened the game with a 16-0 blast and had the game all but wrapped with a 22-point lead at 52-30 at halftime.

The scores:
First Game
LEBANON-AL RIYADI 106—Abd El Nour 24, El Khatib 21, Fakhreddine 10, Ismail 10, Ibrahim 9, Pharis 9, Saoud 8, Kanaan 7, Woods 6, El Turk 2, Mahmoud 0, Akl 0.
IRAQ-DUHUK 80—Giles 29, Mahdi 14, Mahdi 11, Al-doori 9, Hamad 6, Gray 5, Al-Tameemi 4, Gorgiss 2.
Quarters: 25-19, 60-34, 85-58, 106-80
Second Game
IRAN-MAHRAM 102—Samb 18, Davari 14, Williams 14, Atashi 13, Kamrani 11, Sahakian 10, Afagh 9, Nikkhah 6, Rouzbahani 3, Kardoost 2, Nezafat 2, Davoudichegani 0.
SAUDI ARABIA-AL ITTIHAD 65—Kelly 24, Dragajlovic 19, Almadani 7, Kabe 4, Alharbi 3, Alqonisi 3, Almaghrabi 3, Aljuhani 2, Ibrahim 0, Alshamrani 0, Alfallatah 0, Alhosawi 0.
Quarters: 32-15; 52-30, 74-52; 102-65
Third Game
SMART GILAS 85—Douthit 26, Casio 22, Aguilar 12, Lutz 6, Baracael 6, Hontiveros 5, Tiu 5, Lassiter 2, Taulava 1, Barroca 0.
SYRIA-AL JALA’A 80—Walker 25, Madanly 17, Miller 13, Deeb 11, Papazian 7, Yaqqub 4, Gorges 2, Haj 1, Yakoub 0.
Quarters: 20-22, 34-41, 61-57, 85-80