Gilas loses steam, bows to Syrian 5

DOHA, Qatar – Smart Gilas Pilipinas blew a three-point lead in the last 31 seconds as it dropped a heartbreaking 81-83 loss to Al Jalaa of Syria on a buzzer-beater by Charif Charif in a consolation pool in the 21st FIBA-Asia Champions Cup at the Al Gharafa Sports Club Hall here Saturday.

The Nationals squandered a 12-point lead in the second quarter and then failed to hang on in the stretch after Al Jalaa import Garnett Thompson hit a triple on the right baseline and Charif scored on a devil-may-care shot from the right corner at the buzzer to steal the win.

“I think offensively that was our best game but we didn’t manage the game the right way in the end,” said RP coach Rajko Toroman.

Smart Gilas thus blew its shot at fifth place and dropped into a duel for seventh with Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia.

Meanwhile, defending champion Mahram of Iran downed Al Riyadi of Lebanon, 71-64, while host Al Rayyan of Qatar pummeled ASU of Jordan, 82-62, to arrange a showdown for the crown.

Toroman said the team will take its much-needed rest when it flies back home.

“First of all we have to see if we play Malaysia or not but first we need to rest. This team is physically and mentally tired and that’s the reason why we didn’t make it here,” said Toroman, referring to the knockout game against the Malaysians for the right to play in the Stankovic Cup in August in Lebanon.

The Filipinos shot an impressive 29-of-54 from the field, the first time they went above the .500 in this import-laden meet, despite playing mostly with reserves and sparingly using Chris Tiu and Mark Barroca.

Tiu has busted and bruised lip, sore left hamstring, aching hip and ailing right leg while Barroca had a cut in his left eyebrow from an inadvertent elbow he took from Nate Johnson in a 63-74 loss to Al Riyadi in Friday’s quarterfinals.

RP was already playing with JV Casio and JR Cawaling, who came here but had to rest their injured knees, as well as Fil-Am Marcio Lassiter, who also has a knee injury.

Tiu, however, still managed to finish with 17 points including three triples, nine assists, two steals and one rebound while Barroca played the last four minutes of the game and chipped in four points, including two free throws that gave Smart Gilas an 81-78 cushion with 31 seconds to go.

The Syrians, however, were far from finished.

Garnett drained his fourth triple to tie the count at 81 with 19 seconds left in the contest.

But instead of using up the clock for its final play, Smart Gilas rushed things up as an open Dylan Ababou misfired from the three-point arc.

Garnett plucked the rebound with three seconds remaining, heaved the ball to a rushing Charif, who threw a shot at the buzzer that went in, triggering a Syrian celebration while leaving the Filipinos in shock.