The Philippine national men’s basketball team picked up a victory over Kazakhstan, 67-65, but still wound up eliminated from the competition in the quarterfinal round of the 2014 Asian Games basketball tournament in Incheon, Korea. With Gilas Pilipinas needing to win by at least 11 points for a chance to advance to the semis, the Filipinos bowed out after finishing the quarterfinal round with a lower quotient than Kazakhstan and Qatar, even in the best case scenario of a three-way tie. Naturalized player Marcus Douthit, back after sitting out the game against Korea, scored 18 points and grabbed 14 rebounds to lead the way. Gilas nearly pulled it off, leading by 14 points, 65-51, with 4:53 remaining in the game. But Kazakhstan was able to bring the game closer and the Filipinos attempted to extend the game to an overtime by fouling the Kazakhs but it was not to be. Jimmy Alapag, playing in his final game as part of the national team, finished with 11 points. The Filipinos struggled early offensively early in the game, especially from the outside. After sizzling from long range against Korea, Gilas went 0-for-7 from three-point distance to start the game as teams trudged through a low-scoring first quarter that saw the Philippines lead, 14-8, at the end. Douthit scored eight of the Philippines 14 points in the quarter. In the second, Gary David tried to keep the Filipinos ahead, scoring all four of the team’s points as Kazakhstan came back to as close as three points, 18-15, in the first five minutes of the period. But Gilas Pilipinas finally found its rhythm at that point. LA Tenorio gave the Philippines its first three-point field goal and Jimmy Alapag finished on a layup in transition for five unanswered points. After Kazakhstan’s Pavel Ilin split from the charity stripe, Gabe Norwood found the bottom of the net for another trey and Japeth Aguilar gave the Gilas supporters in the crowd something to cheer for as he slammed home a putback off a miss from a teammate. Kazakhstan coach Vitaly Strebkov was then whistled for a technical foul for complaining after a loose ball scramble. Tenorio calmly sank both free throws and Aguilar struck again on a jump hook to cap a 14-1 run that gave the Philippines a 16-point advantage, 32-16. Gilas entered the half leading 35-21 behind a terrific performance from Douthit, who had eight points, nine rebounds and three blocks at the half. Douthit established himself in the post early in the third and the Philippines, behind a three from David and a three-point play from Alapag, pushed their lead to as high as 18, 50-32. But Kazkhstan finished strong, outscoring Gilas 7-2 to close the period behind by just 13, 52-39. In the fourth, Dmitriy Gavrilov, who struggled with foul trouble in the first half, finally got going, knocking down a three and basket in the post and Timur Sultanov split from the free throw line as they got to as close as eight points, 59-51. But Gilas responded with six unanswered points – three from Ranidel De Ocampo, a free throw from Tenorio and Douthit in the post – to make it 14, 65-51. Kazakhstan then unleashed a 9-2 run that cut the Philippine lead down to seven points, 67-60. Gilas, needing to win by 11 for a chance to advance to the semis, tried to make the margin by shooting three-pointers and fouling Kazakhstan as the lead whittled down to just two, 67-65. With 11.4 seconds remaining Douthit even attempted to score in Kazakhstan’s baskets to try to send the game into overtime for a chance at five extra minutes to get the 11-point lead. But the referees would not count the shot and Kazakhstan’s Anatoly Kolesnikov intentionally missed his two free throws so they could end the game with a two-point loss and a lead in the quotient in case of a three-way tie. The Filipinos played without Marc Pingris, who missed the game with an ankle injury. The scores: Gilas Pilipinas (67) – Douthit 18, Alapag 11, Tenorio 8, David 7, Aguilar 7, Dillinger 6, De Ocampo 5, Norwood 5, Chan 0, Lee 0, Fajardo 0. Kazakhstan (65) – Ilin 21, Kolesnikov 15, Gavrilov 12, Murzagaliyev 10, Klimov 4, Ponomarev 2, Sultanov 1, Lapchenko 0, Savchenko 0. Quarterscores: 14-8, 35-21, 52-39, 67-65.
Posted on: Thu, 09 Oct 2014 10:15:24 +0000