Gilas falls to Qatar

CEBU, Philippines - The Philippine national men’s basketball team struggled bigtime in the second half as Qatar came away with a 77-68 victory in the round-robin quarterfinals of Asian Games basketball competition Friday in Incheon, South Korea.

Holding a 39-36 halftime lead, Gilas Pilipinas suffered a huge drought in the third period, going scoreless for more than seven minutes which Qatar took advantage as it launched a 15-0 run to grab a commanding 51-39 lead.

Team captain Jimmy Alapag kept Gilas Pilipinas afloat, burying his signature triples as the Filipinos went to as close as four points in the fourth quarter.

But big baskets from small but quick naturalized guard Boney Watson and big man Mohd Mohamed bailed out the Qataris as they extended their unbeaten streak in the tournament to three games.

Alapag finished with 15 points on five of six triples, while Douthit added 10 markers to lead Gilas Pilipinas.

Gilas Pilipinas had a slow start to the game, failing to execute its fluid offense as it went without a field goal for more than three minutes into the first period.

Douthit then scored six straight points, while Marc Pingris finally made two free throws after missing three of his first four to give the Filipinos their first lead, 12-9, after an 8-0 run.

Gilas Pilipinas scored the first period’s last four points to end the quarter with a 19-all tie before Paul Lee fired two straight three-pointers to fuel a 12-0 run that gave them a 27-19 lead at the 7:10 mark of the second period.

But Watson carried Qatar, injecting energy with his drives and converting a triple to prevent Gilas Pilipinas from pulling away, 34-32.

Jeff Chan then buried a triple before converting a tough leaning jumper as Gilas Pilipinas grabbed a 39-36 halftime lead.

Qatar scorched hot from downtown to start the third period, as Watson buried one trey and Mohamed showing his range by firing three straight triples for a 15-0 run ignited by five triples that gave them back the lead, 51-39.

With nothing going well for Gilas Pilipinas, coach Chot Reyes decided to field a small lineup, with neither centers Douthit nor June Mar Fajardo on the floor.

Alapag then subbed in with over two minutes left in the third period to lead the small ball Gilas Pilipinas. He made his presence felt right away after firing three straight triples for a 9-2 run that kept the Filipinos within five, 56-51, entering the final frame.

Gilas Pilipinas kept on fighting, with Pingris sinking two free throws to trim Qatar’s lead to four, 63-59.

But Watson made two straight layups, then Mohamed also converted underneath to bail out Qatar, 74-65, with just over one minute remaining which was too much too overcome for Gilas Pilipinas.

Mohamed led all scorers with 19 points while Watson made 15 markers to spearhead Qatar.

Gilas Pilipinas tries to bounce back on Saturday in a must-win game against rival South Korea.-InterAKTV.com