Smart Gilas blasts Syria, reaches final

MANILA, Philippines –  Smart Gilas Pilipinas shut down the same American reinforcements that embarrassed it the last time out as it waylaid Al Wahda of Syria, 77-66, to force an interesting title showdown with another first round conqueror  Al Etihad Alexandria of Egypt  in the 22nd Dubai Invitational at the Al Ahli Indoor Stadium yesterday.

Naturalization candidate Marcus Douthit pounded his way to 18 points and 12 rebounds while Mac Baracael, JV Casio and team captain Chris Tiu scattered 17, 12 and 12 points, respectively, to facilitate the attack and avenge their 89-91 loss to the same Syrian club team in the group stages.

But it was the Filipinos’ suffocating defense that spelled the difference as they contained the usually high-scoring American duo of Nick Zachery and Adam Zhan, who torched RP with a combined 58 points but managed only 11 points in their best defensive effort to date.

“It was really a total defensive effort by the boys, we hope to sustain the momentum in the finals,” said Smart Gilas manager Frankie Lim.

The win thus sent Smart Gilas, which walloped Hoops of Lebanon, 86-69, in the quarters, to another return match against Al Etihad Alexandria of Egypt.

Al Etihad downed Sagesse of Lebanon in the other semis to nail the other finals berth.

The Rajko Toroman-mentored squad’s finals appearance was the best effort by any team coming from the Philippines in this annual event allowing each team to field a maximum of three imports since the same Smart Gilas team finished third last year.

The victory delighted the 4,000-strong Filipino crowd, most of which are migrant workers, that packed the compact venue and cheered Smart Gilas and jeered Al Wahda.

“It was sweet revenge,” said Jude Roque, one of Toroman’s lieutenants. “Now we’re taking on Egypt’s Alexandria team, the same team we hope to exact revenge on.”

While the Filipinos did a nice job making life difficult for Zachery and Zhan, Casio, best guard in last year’s edition, engineered the attack with seven assists.

“We played our best overall game before a roaring Filipino crowd of about 4,000. The gym was really packed. It was a total team effort that made us win,” said Smart Gilas assistant manager Butch Antonio through an e-mail message.

“Please continue praying for our boys. With God’s grace and blessings hopefully we end this trip with a championship,” he added.