Passing Lane, a team made up of American collegiate stars, looked on the way to a blowout after erecting a 19-point lead early in the second half but the Philippines refused to roll over.
Sparked by Ritualo’s hot shooting, the Philippines stormed back to trim the deficit to five with 4:34 left. Passing Lane coach Terry Layton benched 7-8, 365-pound center Sun Ming Ming in the fourth period as he went to his veterans in turning back the Philippines down the stretch.
The sparse crowd was up on its feet at the height of the Philippines’ scorching comeback in the second half where the league’s smallest team, sponsored by San Miguel Beer, outscored Passing Lane, 46-38.
Passing Lane’s star and former Washington Wizards guard God Shammgod, easily the premier quarterback here, tried to put the cuffs on Ritualo in an attempt to douse the Philippines’ rally. But Ritualo couldn’t be stopped, erupting for 16 of his 27 points in the last quarter.
When the smoke of battle cleared, Shammgod approached Ritualo, shook his hand and complimented him for his shooting ability.
Ritualo said Shammgod was determined to stop him and even told his teammates not to switch on screen plays. "He kept holding me," continued Ritualo. "Sabi ko sa kanya, get off me. Ayaw namin talagang magpatalo."
Nebraska’s 6-7, 240-pound wingman Steffon Bradford hit 22 points and shot 10-of-13 from the floor to pace Passing Lane in scoring.
The Philippines just couldn’t get on track in the early going as only Romel Adducul and Ritualo scored five points in a sputtering first period. Passing Lane plowed through the Philippines interior defense to power for dunks and layups, courtesy of 7-0 Brian Sigafoos of Harvard, 6-10 Reggie Okosa of La Salle and 6-11 Cedric Suitt of Pepperdine.
"We were intimidated at the start," admitted Philippine assistant coach Binky Favis. "That’s why at the half, coach Chot (Reyes) told the guys we had to believe in ourselves, to believe we could beat this team. It was a mental thing. Our effort in the second half was incredible. All heart. We showed we could beat a team of taller, bigger and stronger Americans. Now, in our minds, we know if we can beat a team of American All-Stars, we can beat any team in Asia. If we didn’t start slowly, who knows what could’ve happened?"
Assistant coach Aboy Castro said the game was reminiscent to the Philippines’ quarterfinal loss to Jordan in the recent Champions Cup.
"We were down by a lot to Jordan early then we came back to lose only by three and we could’ve sent it to overtime if we made an open three at the buzzer," recalled Castro. "Same thing happened against Passing Lane. Next time, we should start strong or if we fall behind, we now know we can come back and win."
Rebounding made a big difference as Passing Lane cleared 52 boards compared to the Philippines’ 37 and shot more second chance points, 10-3. The Philippines hit only .342 from the field, compared to Passing Lane’s .508, but knocked down 10 triples, seven from Ritualo and one apiece from Mike Cortez, Jay-Jay Helterbrand and Kelly Williams. The Philippines’ defense forced Passing Lane into 21 turnovers. The Filipinos committed only 13 errors.
Dondon Hontiveros, playing in his first game after arriving the other day, scattered 10 of his 12 points in the second period. Hontiveros was a late and welcome addition to the team.
The consolation was the Philippines wasn’t embarrassed and the Filipinos walked out of the Cox Pavilion with their heads held up high. The Philippines didn’t give up despite the atrocious start and fought to the last buzzer. Ritualo’s final triple, in fact, came as time ran out. The Filipino crowd that gathered to cheer the team applauded lustily in the end.
In its first game the other day, the Philippines upset Aoshen of China, 80-65. Other opening day results were BCI Edge over BTG Express, 108-74, ESM Sports over Passing Lane, 75-74, in overtime, SFX Sports over BDA Sports, 76-75 and Long Beach Jam over Nigeria, 92-79.
The Philippine team got a boost from PBA commissioner Noli Eala’s congratulatory text for the win over Aoshen.
The Philippines plays BDA (Bill Duffy and Associates) Sports this morning (Manila time). BDA’s standouts include 6-7 Willy Taylor of Virginia Commonwealth, Paul Marigney of St. Mary’s College, 6-8 Harvey Thomas of Baylor, 6-10 Nate Lofton of Southeastern Louisiana and 6-9 Justin Davis of Stanford.