Despite the setback, their first in five starts, the Filipinos can still claim the championship if they win their last four assignments, including those against powerhouse Passing Lane of the USA and Russia-Samara.
With the backcourt tandem of Ryan Kersten and Patrick Mills hustling all over the floor, AIS kept the game close from the start and pounced on RP-San Miguel Beer’s miscues down the stretch to pound out the victory, its first in five games.
"I guess we had it coming since the Korea game," said national coach Chot Reyes, who had an 11-man crew for the game with the arrival of PBL standouts Jondan Salvador and Dennis Miranda. "We just couldn’t start strong from that game until now. And then we missed so many layups, putbacks and free throws. They were there for the taking but we couldn’t convert. And you can’t afford to let that happen in this tournament."
Notorious for their slow start, the Filipinos seemed poised to step on the gas in the third quarter. Tony de la Cruz presided over a run that gave the Nationals a 55-49 lead but they just couldn’t put away the pesky Australians and sustain the momentum.
"They just outworked us. Dennis and Jondan played well but not having Brandon (Cablay) told heavily on our bench scoring," said Reyes, referring to Cablay, who was sidelined by a foot injury. "Fatigue finally caught up with us we have 24 turnovers against their 40-minute press."
A three-pointer by the 5-11 Mills tied the count at 68 and sparked an 8-0 spurt that gave AIS a 73-68 lead with three minutes left.
Despite two crucial turnovers and a questionable call on Dondon Hontiveros, the Filipinos moved within, 72-74, on Jay-jay Helterbrand’s free throws with 58.9 seconds left in the contest.
But Stephen Weigh doused cold water on the Filipinos’ rally when he connected on a triple with the shot clock winding down, giving the Aussies a 77-72 advantage and breaking the hearts of the sizable Filipino crowd at the Taipei Physical Education College gym with 35.4 seconds to go.
"Now we have to win all our remaining games if we’d like to win this tournament. All is not lost. We’ve got to break those bad habits and play a lot better," Reyes said.
Romel Adducul led RP–San Miguel Beer with 15 points while Helterbrand and Asi Taulava chipped in 14 points apiece. On the other end of the floor, Kersten erupted for 21 points with Mills adding 14.
The coaching staff opted to rest Brandon Cablay, who bruised his right knee against India Tuesday.
The Filipinos take on Japan at 12 noon Thursday, hoping to get momentum back heading to the big games against Russia, host Chinese-Taipei and the USA this weekend.