GILAS PILIPINAS STAVES OFF PESKY INDIA TO WIN 85-76
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Tue, 23 Sep 2014
After a blazing 16-0 run to kickoff its opening game against India in Group E of the Asian Games basketball tournament, Gilas Pilipinas had to stave off a pesky Indian team that never gave up to eventually come through 85-76 to begin its hard road to a coveted gold medal.
The win sent Gilas Pilipinas into the quarterfinal round but if they beat FIBA Asia Champions Iran on Thursday, it will improve their standing in the next phase of the tournament.
Back-to-back triples by LA Tenorio and two triples by sweet shooting lefty Jeff Chan sandwiched by a basket and a slam dunk by naturalized American Marcis Douthit who was recalled to service after the Olympic Council of Asia ruled NBA player Andray Blatche ineligible because of his failure to comply with a three-year residency requirement, gave a crowd of flag-waving Filipinos something to cheer about as the Filipinos raced ahead 18-2 before India, behind their own three-point shooting with Pratham Singh and Vishesh Bhriguvanshi finding the touch from outside.
Two turnovers by an initially tense Japeth Aguilar helped India claw back to end the first quarter within 8 at 24-16.
A triple to start the second quarter by India in the game telecast ?live? by TV 5 at 1:00 p.m. yesterday was quickly answered by Gary David who nailed a triple of his own behind an eight-point output which complemented the nine-point contribution of big man Junmar Fajardo for the first 17 points of the Philippines to lead 45-28.
But the Indians kept doggedly making their triples and when Pratham Singh converted a three point basket to make it 47-33, coach Chot Reyes sued for time.
Reyes expertly diagrammed a play for Aguilar which Gilas Pilipinas ran to perfection enabling Japeth to slam it home on an alley-oop pass for a 49-33 lead before back-to-back baskets by India forced Reyes to call another time-out with the score at 49-37 and :38 seconds left in the half . But Aguilar was fouled as play resumed and made one of two free throws to end the half at 50-37.
India opened the third quarter with a triple to trim the lead to 10, at 50-40 before India scored off its own alley-oop play inside and 23 year old 6?9 center and when captain Amritpal Singh was fouled by Douthit and converted his free throws, Indian had trimmed the Philippines lead to 8 at 52-44.
But Douthit who had a solid game at both ends of the court nailed a 19 foot jumper and Tenorio floated a looper over his 6?9? defender to ease the pressure at 56-44.
A time out by India?s American coach Scott Fleming with 6:08 to go in the third didn?t pay dividends as Tenoria pulled off a steal and scored after which Ranidel de Ocampo drove to the basket and issued a last second drop pass to Douthit who slammed it home for a 60-44 before Douthit again tapped in a miss to move Gilas Pilipinas further ahead 62-44.
Douthit was called for an inexplicable three-second violation which brought a smile to the face of coach Reyes and when Douthit fouled 18 year old 6?9 Amritpal Singh who converted both free throws the Philippines lead was down to 14, 62-48.
With Gilas Pilipinas exerting pressure on the Indians they committed an 8-second backcourt violation and Gabe Norwood made them pay with a triple to ease the Philippines in front 65-48 and after Japeth scored on a fastbreak, Gilas Pilipinas enjoyed its biggest lead of the game, 19 points at 67-48.
Aguilar who had clearly settled down in the second half hit a jumper and after getting hammered as he soared high for a dunk, made one of two free throws before India?s shooting star Joginder Singh converted on a triple to end the third quarter 70-56 in favor of Gilas Pilipinas.
David opened the scoring in the final quarter and then buried a wide open right corner triple for a 75-68 count with 8:40 left to play but just as they did in the FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan when India charged back from a 13 point deficit to lose by just four points, they went to its three-point shooting to trim the lead to 11 at 84-73 on a shot from beyond the arc by Amjit Singh forcing Reyes to sue for time.
Two successive turnovers by the Philippines and a triple by Amjyot Singh who had to be pulled out due to cramps cut the Philippines lead to eight, 84-76 with a minute and two seconds remaining. Alapag who replaced Tenorio converted one of two free throws in the dying seconds of the game to clinch a s hard-fought victory for Gilas Pilipinas.
A 52 to 44 percent edge in field goal shooting, a dominating 39-24 advantage in rebounds and some torrid three-point shooting especially at the start of the game saw Gilas convert 9-of-20 attempts from beyond the arc while the Indians who relied on their outside shooting to make a game of it, converted 12 of their 27 attempts.
Douthit put in a fine all-round performance with 14 points and a gane high 10 rebounds while Chan also had 14 points. Veteran Gary David added 13 while PBA MVP JunMar Fajardo continued to show improvement from his FIBA World Cup stint to finish with 12 points aside from playing some tough defense.
Japeth Aguilar who settled down in the second half after an erratic opening came through with 10 points including a highlight reel jam and LA Tenorio also chipped in 10 points.
In a post game interview with the Manila Standard/Viva Sports coach Chot Reyes said ?I liked the energy to start the game but we relaxed mentally with a big lead and I reminded the players this Indian team never gives up.? But overall, Chot said ?it was a good start.?
Reyes lamented the 20 turnovers and emphasized ?we got to take care of the ball? even as he said that the game Gilas Pilipinas played against India ?is not the game we can play and hope to beat Iran? although Reyes believes that ?if we have a hot night we can win.?
He said the team will practice on Wednesday and will try to watch the boxing matches and support the Philippine fighters.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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