MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas Pilipinas got buried by the taller, bigger frontline of Al Etihad Alexandria of Egypt after losing naturalization candidate Marcus Douthit via ejection in the first quarter and dropped a heartbreaking 75-84 loss in the finals of the 22nd Dubai Invitational at the Al Ahli Indoor Stadium yesterday.
The 6-10 Douthit, the source of inside strength by the Filipinos, was thrown out for pushing Al Etihad import Dareen Kelly after he was elbowed and slapped in the face in the opening period.
That proved to be the start of the Nationals’ downfall.
At first, Smart Gilas remained unfazed by Douthit’s early disqualification as it led by 11 points at halftime, 44-33.
But the Egyptians, left with two more imports against none from the Filipinos, capitalized on their height advantage and slowly closed the gap before making the final push in the fourth quarter to seal the title to the disappointment of some 4,000 Filipino migrant workers who were cheering for a victory.
“It was a heartbreaking loss,” said Smart Gilas manager Frankie Lim.
There were some irregularities though as Smart Gilas was never awarded two free throws for a flagrant foul committed by Kelly on Douthit and never penalized Alexandria’s players for going into the court during the commotion.
“Kelly elbowed Marcus in the neck and was called for an unsportsmanlike foul. An altercation ensued after Kelly touched Marcus’ face which made Marcus to push him away, that caused the ejection of both players,” recounted assistant team manager Butch Antonio.
“At resumption of play, the refs forgot or deliberately did not give us two free throws plus ball possession for the unsportsmanlike foul. Instead, they just cancelled it because both players were ejected.
“During the altercation, the Egyptian players rushed into the court, which is a clear bench-clearing, but no technical foul was given for doing so,” he added.
The Filipinos also complained of the curiously long halftime break that had somehow destroyed the momentum they gained after seizing an 11-point lead despite playing all-Filipino.
“The halftime break was suprisingly extended from the usual 10-15 minutes to a whopping 45 minutes. This we feel took away our momentum and the long break clearly favored the other team,” said Antonio.
“These are not excuses for losing the game, they are just things that we feel may have affected the result of the game,” he added.
With Douthit out, Mac Baracael took the scoring cudgels and unloaded 28 points while team captain Chris Tiu, Aldrech Ramos and co-skipper Mark Barroca chipped in 12, 10 and eight points, respectively, but, obviously, they were missing a tough reinforcement.
Smart Gilas will go home though with its heads unbowed as their second place finish was the best by any Philippine team that competed here since winding up third by the same Rajko Toroman-mentored squad last year.
“There is nothing to be ashamed of, we’ve gave it our best. Breaks just didn’t went our way but we remained proud of our accomplishment,” said Lim.