RP drops to sixth in Jones Cup

The Philippine aspirants national basketball team finished sixth in the eight-team Jones Cup after losing a 98-86 decision to Kazakhstan in a consolation game at the Taipei Physical Education College Gymnasium in Taiwan last Sunday.

A near free-for-all marred the contest with about five minutes left when Arwind Santos took an elbow in the face from 6-9 Isakov Yevgeniy as both players crashed to the floor in a rebounding battle.

The players on the bench rushed to Santos’ aid but were persuaded to back off by cooler heads. Both Santos and Yevgeniy were thrown out for roughhousing even as the referees called a held ball on the play.

"The players were just fed up getting banged around the whole tournament and couldn’t take the physical and officiating abuse any longer,’ said Reyes. "Losing Arwind was a big blow and we couldn’t come closer."

Neither team took control in the early going as Kazakhstan took a slim 41-37 lead at the half. The Kazakhs doubled Ali Peek at the post and shadowed Dondon Hontiveros and John Arigo in the perimeter while the aspirants contained top scorers Anton Ponomarev and Yevgeniy.

But Dmitry Klirnov erupted for 14 points as Kazakhstan broke away, 74-58, to open the fourth period. The aspirants trimmed the deficit to 10 but were stymied after entering into penalty situation with 6:30 to go and the Kazakhs still had no fouls.

Backup center Abby Santos, one of four amateur standouts in the squad, led the aspirants with 16 points and 10 rebounds in 20 minutes. Arwind Santos netted 13 points while Arigo and Peek hit 10 apiece.

Reyes, who arrived home with the team yesterday, said the aspirants have nothing to be ashamed of.

"They came to represent our country and they represented well, regardless of the result," he said. "For this alone, they should be commended as they could have taken a vacation or rested their injuries or just said no, as others did. These 14 men answered the call and showed up. As I told the players in our final meeting, I am very proud to have had the opportunity to work and go to battle with them."

Reyes said despite the team’s 3-6 overall record, he found it a worthwhile learning experience. He called it an investment for the future.

"We saw first-hand who among our group of players could or have the potential to play at this level," he said. "It allowed us to scout three very strong teams — Qatar, Chinese-Taipei and Kazakhstan — for either the Asian Games or FIBA-Asia 2007, if ever we get the chance to play. And more importantly, the experience allowed the players to get better as individual players and to grow as persons."

Reyes said the team is grateful to the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) Board of Governors and chief sponsor San Miguel Corp. for making the trip possible.

The US team Athletes In Action beat Chinese-Taipei by 10 to capture the title. Qatar defeated Korea University All-Stars for third place.

Meanwhile, Talk ‘N’ Text scored a rousing 88-86 overtime win over the Hoopstars at the Southern California Pro Summer League in Long Beach, California, last Saturday.

Jimmy Alapag netted 20 points to pace the Phone Pals. Asi Taulava compiled 15 points and 10 rebounds. Harvey Carey contributed 13 points and nine rebounds while MacMac Cardona chipped in 12 points. Ren-Ren Ritualo and Jay Washington tallied eight each. Victor Pablo had five points, Don Allado four points and seven rebounds and Donbel Belano a triple.

It was a gritty showing by the visiting Filipinos, the only foreign entry in the tournament. The Phone Pals came back from 16 points down to level the count, 75-all, in regulation and put away the Hoopstars in extension.

The All-American Hoopstars had more fastbreak points, 14-6, more field goal attempts, 80-67, more assists, 16-9, and more second chance points, 16-13 but the Phone Pals hit more turnover points, 30-20, and free throws, 26-13, and were tougher down the stretch.

The Hoopstars led, 41-30, at the half. Guard Kendrick Cornelius shot 19 points and 6-7 Johnny Parker of Missouri added 17 for the losers. Other key players in coach Kermit Pemberton’s rotation were Jay (Boogie) Brantley of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas, Kenny Crudup of California State at San Bernardino, 6-10 Doug Whittler of Moorehouse and Gene Myvett of California State at Los Angeles.

In Talk ‘N’ Text’s first game last Friday, the Phone Pals lost a 79-69 verdict to Play 2 Win.

The game almost didn’t push through because of a mix-up in schedules. Organizers failed to inform the Phone Pals the tip-off was moved up from 5 to 3 p.m.

Play 2 Win was led by 6-10 Kenny Whitehead of James Madison with 15 points, 6-9 B. J. Puckett of Clayton State with 13, 6-7 Tarron Williams of California State at San Bernardino with 13 and 6-6 Midwin Francis of Northeastern State with 10.

Alapag had 17 points and Allado, 13 points and five rebounds. Taulava compiled nine points and seven rebounds.

"Coach Derick (Pumaren) was happy with the way we played," said Allado. "We tried our very best and even though the guys are still jet-lagged and got disrupted with the schedule, we still showed effort and resilience and played good defense, forcing Play 2 Win to commit 19 turnovers."