With Douthit ailing, Phl Gilas takes 2nd loss

MANILA, Philippines - Marcus Douthit sat out with a bad back and Gilas Pilipinas dropped its second straight game in its New Zealand tune-up series, losing to the Wellington Saints, 96-100, in Wellington Tuesday.

Saints imports Kareem Johnson and Bryant Markson pounced on Douthit absence and combined for a whopping 62-point output, mostly inside the paint.

June Mar Fajardo, Marc Pingris and Japeth Aguilar alternated to cover the shaded lane but failed to stop the Saints, particularly Markson and Johnson.

“Lost, 96-100. Couldn’t stop Saints imports Kareem Johnson (30pts) & Bryant Markson (32pts) w/o@DouthitMarcus (bad back),” said national coach Chot Reyes on his Twitter account @coachot.

The Filipino cagers, gearing up for next month’s FIBA Asia Championship at home, earlier absorbed an 85-86 setback to New Zealand’s National Basketball League All-Stars in Napier last Sunday.

Gilas, which won its first two matches, dropped to 2-2 with two more games left in the final buildup for its FIBA Asia campaign.

Gilas faces the Auckland Rangers on Wednesday before taking on the New Zealand national team on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the Phl under-16 team clobbered host Indonesia, 82-57, to kick off its campaign in the SEABA Under-16 men’s basketball championship last Monday.

Michael dela Cruz and Kobe Paras for Team Phl drew an opening-day bye in the event which stakes a spot in the FIBA-Asia Under-16 Championships.

Dela Cruz finished with 17 points while Paras added 14 markers.