GILAS PILIPINAS BEATS JORDAN FOR SECOND WIN
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Sat, 03 Aug 2013
It was Jeff Chan's turn to deliver the goods for the Philippine national men?s basketball team when he led Gilas Pilipinas to its second straight victory against Jordan, 77-71, last night in the ongoing FIBA Asia Championship at the SM Mall ofAsia Arena.
Chan, a mainstay of the Rain or Shine in the PBA, topscored with 17 points capped by a 5-of-7 three-point shooting. The whole team drilled in 44 percent shooting beyond the arc to get rid of the Jordanian zone defense.
Gilas Pilipinas was listless in the first half of action as they trailed, 38-33, at the halftime. In the third quarter, they redeemed themselves with a 20-2 rally that put Gilas ahead, 57-47, at the end of the third quarter.
Jordan threatened the Philippines with a 10-2 run to inch close, 63-57, at the fourth period. But Gilas answered with a 7-2 rally to put the team safely ahead. Jayson Castro, who scored 16 points, fueled the scoring binge on a layup.
Mohammad Hadrab, who led Jordan with 19 points, sank in five points to cut the Gilas lead to just six points. But Jimmy Alapag answered with an exhilarating three-pointer to widen the lead to nine, 73-64. Gary David's free throw on the dying seconds sealed the Pilipinas' win to the delight of the home crowd whose cheers boasted the confidence of our boys.
Gabe Norwood's all-around court brilliance with eight points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and two blocks, contributed much to the second Philippine victory as it headed to facing Chinese-Taipei today in another exciting match.
The crippling Gilas fortification inspired by the fans shouting "defense" pressured the Jordanians to commit 17 turnovers and sank only 39 percent field shooting. Norwood's tight watch on naturalized player John Baxter limited him to just 14 points, an anemic performance compared to his 30 points during Jordan's first game.
?Still not happy. We can be happy on August 11. Today I think we?re fooling ourselves if we allow ourselves to be happy,? said coach Chot Reyes as quoted by interAKTV. ?There?s a lot of room for improvement. But our theme is ?better.? Just to keep getting better every game because in the pre-game I reminded my players, this isn?t a sprint. This is going to be a long drawn-out race. And the way to go deep in this race is to continue to get better."
And Gilas Pilipinas has to gear up with tougher games ahead.
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