Qataris send Gilas to worst Asiad finish

GUANGZHOU – Smart Gilas Team Pilipinas floundered at crunch time, squandering a 10-point lead as it bowed to Qatar, 71-81, and ended up sixth – the Nationals worst finish in the Asian Games here last night.

The Nationals lost their shooting touch in the payoff period, causing a poor windup in the contest in the tournament ruled by China.

The Chinese successfully defended their title by overcoming the scrappy South Koreans, 77-71.

Iran, the reigning back-to-back Fiba Asia champion, outlasted Japan, 74-66, for the bronze medal.

“Sixth place is not a good finish. We have to do a better job. We’ll assess what happened once we’re back in Manila,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

The Nationals, a team made up of former collegiate stars reinforced by three PBA players in Asi Taulava, Kelly Williams and Sol Mercado, set out for the Guangzhou Games hoping to at least make the semifinals.

Injuries hit the team even before the start of the competition, though, and the Nationals missed the Final Four in yielding a close quarterfinal game versus the South Koreans.

The team also yielded in a rematch with the Qatar team it walloped by 22 points in the preliminary round, Smart Gilas ended up sixth – the country’s worst finish in the Asiad since the same windup in 1966 in Bangkok.

Philippine basketball, however, looked well on the rise as Smart Gilas improved on the RP team’s ninth place and eighth place finishes in the last two Fiba Asia championships.

Smart Gilas is a young program of Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas geared towards making good in next year’s Fiba Asia joust.

The Nationals dominated the Qataris almost three-fourths of the way, enjoying a 10-point spread at 59-49 before going on steady meltdown.

They missed several open field-goal shots and muffed five of 11 free throws in a faltering finish made worse by calls that went against them.

“All players struggled with their shots just like in the South Korea game,” rued Toroman.

“We didn’t play good in the second half. But it’s hard to play. It’s impossible to play with this kind of refs,” Toroman also said, hinting at poor officiating.

The Qataris, silver medalists in the 2006 Asiad at home in Doha, pounced on the Filipinos’ collapse, making a 20-point turnaround from a 10-point deficit, 49-59, with 3:29 left in the third.

Do-it-all guard Targuy Ngombo made 25 points, with Ahmad Mohammed and Suliman Abdi Khalid adding 19 and 17, respectively, for the Qataris, who narrowly lost a quarters match with the Chinese Wednesday.

Kelly Williams fired 20 points, Asi Taulava got 19 rebounds and 13 points while Jayvee Casio chipped in 10 points and eight assists for Smart Gilas.

Marcio Lassiter made only two points on 1-of-10 shooting and worse committed a crucial error then incurred an unsportsmanlike foul that hastened Smart Gilas’ loss.

The Qataris took advantage of Lassiter’s lapses with Abdi Khalid banging away a trey to cap a decisive run giving them a 76-67 lead entering the homestretch.

Qatar converted 46 percent of its shots while Smart Gilas struggled with a 34-percent clip.

Earlier, Jordan, a qualifier in the last Turkey World Championships, topped North Korea, 79-74, for third place.