A Filipino player goes for a basket during the FIBA Asia Championship match against Qatar in Manila, yesterday.
By Danotzki Santos
manila, Philippines: The Philippines cashed in five out of six attempts from the charity lane in the dying seconds to quell Qatar’s surge in the end game and run away with an ego-boosting 80-70 victory in the FIBA Asia Championships being held in Manila.
Philippines blazed to a 15-6 advantage as the sweet-shooting Jeff Chan burned the hoops and 6’10” Marcus Douthit lorded the boards early in the game.
Qatar came out strong and countered in the ensuing plays with Jervis Hayes and Mousa Daoud combining for a 14-5 blitz to peg a 20-all first quarter stand-off.
The Filipinos reverted to zone defence at the start of the second canto and unleashed a mighty offensive thrust anchored on the high-flying Japeth Aguilar to soar to 47-29 advantage at the end of the half.
Jason William spearheaded a 10-5 attack at the onset of the third period to push the host country to their largest margin at 57-34 before Aguilar and Chan joined hands in holding off the maroon shirts’ late spurt to complete a 63-44 cushion going into the final stage of the match.
The Qataris under Erfan Saeed then reeled off a 9-2 run in the first two and a half minutes of the pay-off period to close in on Gilas, 65-53, before LA Tenorio finished off a 7-2 counter-attack with an undergoal stab that gave Philippines a 17-point margin with 4:21 left in the game.
With Douthit hurting and seated on the bench, the Gulf champions imposed their height and heft over the Filipinos to dominate and inch closer at 74-67, with time down to 54 seconds.
Team Gilas thus tied Qatar with 3-1 win-loss card and virtually forged a three-team squabble for first place in Group E with the hosts aiming to finish the round with a 4-1 slate against Hong Kong. The latter are on a must-win course againt Chinese Taipei (4-0) in the final day of the second round today.
With an imminent win by the Philippines in their game tomorrow, a Chinese-Taipei victory sends Qatar to third place while a win by the latter forges a three-way tie for first place.
In Group F are Iran, South Korea, China, Kazakstan, India and Bahrain. THE PENINSULA
