Filipinos nip Kazakhs in final tune-up before FIBA Asia

Jason Castro vs Johnson Jerry. CONTRIBUTED PHOTO BY PBA

MANILA, Philippines — Smart Gilas reclaimed the lead in the last 1:36 of the game and came away with a tight 92-89 win over Kazakhstan Friday in the Filipinos’ final tune-up game before the FIBA Asia Championships.

Guard Jimmy Alapag nailed two freethrows to put the Filipinos ahead, 88-87, before a triple from Jeff Chan and a split from the stripe from Marcus Douthit warded off the pesky Kazakhs for good.

Chan, who unleashed six triples, led Gilas Pilipinas with 20 points, along with guard Jayson Castro, who sat out in crunch time after seemingly twisting his ankle.

“That’s the problem when we play so hard. Jayson and Ranidel both twisted their ankles, and I hope it’s just slight and they can recover in a week’s time,” said head coach Chot Reyes.

Alapag added 12 points — either from beyond the arc or the charity stripe — mostly coming in the third quarter where the Filipinos pushed the lead to 74-68, only to lose it again in the payoff period.

Reyes admitted they were wary of Kazakhstan, which flaunted its strength in the perimeter in this game, come the Asian championships next week.

Small yet sly guard Jerry Johnson led the Kazhaks with 17 points, Anton Ponomarev had 16 while Dmitriy Klimov and Rustem Murzagaliyev added 13 and 12 markers, respectively.

The scores:

GILAS PILIPINAS 92 – Castro 20, Chan 20, Fonacier 14, Alapag 12, Douthit 9, Tenorio 5, Fajardo 5, Aguilar 5, David 2, Norwood 0, Pingris 0, De Ocampo 0, Belga 0.

KAZAKHSTAN 89 – Johnson 17, Ponomarev 16, Kilmov 13, Murzagaliyev 12, Yevstigneyev V. 9, Dvirnyy 7, Zhigulin 7, Bondarovich 6, Yargaliyev 2, Sultanov 0, Yevstigneyev M. 0, Bazhin 0.

Quarters: 26-22, 51-53, 76-70, 92-89