SMART Gilas-Pilipinas took its first loss in the 24th Dubai International basketball tournament on Saturday (Sunday morning in Manila), an 82-97 setback to host Al Ahli at Al Ahli Sports Club in Dubai.
Bannered by three imports, the hosts were in complete command, holding naturalized Filipino center Marcus Douthit to just nine points as the Philippines dropped to 1-1 in Group B.
The Philippines won its first assignment, 79-77, over Mouttahed Tripoli of Lebanon Friday night but was badly outclassed by the taller Al Ahli side.
Al Ahli was reinforced by National Basketball Association veteran Cheikh Samb and former D-League standouts Leroy Hurd and Leemire Goldwire, who combined for 63 of the host’s total output.
“The team’s immaturity showed,” coach Chot Reyes said in his Twitter account later. “(We) couldn’t handle playing against three NBA vets.”
Hurd had 24 points and the 6-foot Goldwire tossed in 21 for the hosts.
Al Ahli opened a 26-18 advantage at the end of the first quarter, a 51-32 lead at the turn before taking a 79-58 bubble into the fourth quarter.
Garvo Lanete, the former San Beda ace who was a part of the champion Jones Cup team last August, and five-time PBA slam dunk champion Nino Cañaleta paced the Filipinos with 12 and 10 points, respectively.
“Sorry for the loss, I should have been smarter and more of a leader,” Douthit said in his own Twitter post.
Douthit scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds against the Lebanese. Lanete was also the best local player offensively for Reyes in that game with 15.
The 7-foot-1 Samb and the 6-10 Hurd took turns in bottling up Douthit inside as Al Ahli bounced back from a loss to Jordan’s Sporting Amarex on Friday.
Next up for the Philippines is Sporting Amarex in an encounter the Filipinos need to win to advance to the next round. That game was being played at press time late last night. Musong R. Castillo