Defending champion and host Hong Kong made sure about it.
Bothered by early foul trouble that kept its game under check, FedEx-RP absorbed a 75-87 defeat to Hong Kong and bowed out of contention in the tough, eight-team tournament for the second straight year.
The loss, the second in four matches, relegated the FedEx-supported Filipinos to the battle for third place against newly-crowned SEABA champion Malaysia.
Malaysia is reinforced this year by a 6-11 Australian import.
"We can’t do anything anymore. The boys played their best and tried to keep their focus in the game, but the calls went against us. It’s really disappointing," said FedEx-RP coach Johnny Tam, who failed in his bid to lead the Filipinos to their second Kung Sheung title in four years.
"The boys were completely taken out of their game by early foul trouble, especially Ranidel (de Ocampo)," added Tam.
Except in 2002 when the Burlington-RP team of coach Tam and veterans Rommel Adducul and Yancy de Ocampo snatched the championship, host team Hong Kong won all Kung Sheung titles since the league’s inception in 1990.
Tam noted the big discrepancy on fouls — 25 for the Filipinos against only 11 for Hong Kong.
De Ocampo and fellow veteran Wynne Arboleda bore the brunt of the referees’ calls, getting four and five fouls, respectively, that greatly affected the Filipinos’ 10-man rotation.
In all, Hong Kong had 32 free throw attempts compared to only 14 of the Filipinos. The Hongkongites made 26 of their 32 free throws as against the Filipinos’ 11-of-14 shooting.
The 15-point difference in free throws obviously proved too much even for the Filipinos to overcome.
Best Shooter Award candidate Gary David tried to carry the fight for FedEx-RP, scoring 14 of his game-high 26 points during the Filipinos’ determined stand in the fourth period.
Egay Billones added 11 points on 4-of-6 shooting, while John Ferriols contributed 10 points and eight rebounds despite playing hurt due to the highly-physical game against the Asian American Sports Club last Thursday.
Marc Pingris also came back from a so-so performance in the previous game, adding nine points and nine rebounds. Jerry Codiñera, who returned to Hong Kong from Manila only a few minutes after the game, added eight points and five rebounds.
Hong Kong was led by 7-1 Sung Fong and Yung Kam Wah with 22 and 21 points, respectively.
Yung, a perennial national team mainstay of Hong Kong, hit six three-point shots, including four in the decisive fourth period.
Hong Kong’s championship rival is Asian American Sports Club.