Smart Gilas II halts Taiwan, gains lead

TAIPEI – Smart Gilas conquered Chinese Taipei on its home floor last night in a follow-up to its upset of Iran the previous night, assuring itself of a tie at the top at the close of the 34th William Jones Cup at the TPEC Gymnasium today.

Jeff Chan provided the firepower in the first half then LA Tenorio rose to the occasion when the chips were down in the second half as the Nationals clipped the Taiwanese, 76-72, and seized solo first place after the penultimate day of the short one-round-robin competition among nine teams.

Asian power Iran lost for a second straight night and the US team suffered a second upset as they fell to joint second place with Korea at 5-2, a game behind the Philippines.

Sweet-shooting forward Elie Stephan strung up nine triples and a total of 27 points while Jarrid Famous tossed in 17 markers and grabbed 12 rebounds as Lebanon stunned the US five, 70-67.

Korea, meanwhile, pounced on a weary Iran team for an 82-73 victory.

The Filipinos wrap up the championship without any complication if they beat the Americans in their game at 5 p.m. today.

Iran plays Jordan and Korea takes on Chinese Taipei in the other key matches.

“At least with this win, we have our fate in our hands. We have had a good tournament so far, and we have to make it a great tournament tomorrow (today),” said coach Chot Reyes whose team is a win away from handing the country a first Jones Cup crown in 14 years.

“Obviously, the game against the US is for the championship, for all the marbles. The US team is tall, quick and very athletic. We need to find a way to stay with them,” Reyes also said.

The Americans catch up with the Filipinos if they win, and any tie will be resolved by the quotient tiebreak system. Iran and Korea are the other teams that can still tie the Philippines.

Tenorio had his breakout game and emerged Gilas’ man of the moment as he fired away three straight treys and scored a total of 11 points in the fourth quarter.

The Taiwanese had seized the momentum in the tight, exciting game, wiping away a seven-point deficit when Tenorio came through with his heroics disappointing the cheering home crowd.

Chan took charge earlier, knocking in four triples and a total of 14 markers as the Nationals sat on a 37-29 cushion at the half.

“I thought Taipei did a good job covering our shooters. But in doing that they gave up something and that’s LA (Tenorio),” said Reyes.

The two teams actually engaged in a shootout with the Philippines going 11-of-26 from the three-point area as against Taipei’s 10-of-27 clip.

The Taiwanese put up a tough fight with their constant motion offense and crisp shooting.

Until Tenorio outgunned them and sealed the coffin.  

The scores:

SMART GILAS-PILIPINAS 76 – Chan 14, Douthit 14, Tenorio 11, De Ocampo 11, Norwood 10, Fonacier 5, David 5, Mercado 4, Thoss 2.

TAIPEI-A 72 – Wen 18, Tsung 16, Chai 11, Lei 9, Hsueh 8, Cheng 5, Shih 3, Tai 2, Hsin 0, Chih 0, Yi 0.

Quarterscores: 16-all, 37-29, 54-56, 76-72