FIBA Asia Championship: Smart-Gilas Pilipinas wins Vs Chinese Taipei

Philippines gave millions of fans back home a lot to cheer by making the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Championship for the first time in 24 years with a comeback 95-78 win against Chinese Taipei on Friday.

In Saturday’s semifinal, Philippines will take on Jordan who stunned defending champions Iran in an earlier quarterfinal.

For the record, Philippines had beaten Jordan 72-64 when the two met in a Group F Second Round game in this competition earlier.

Naturalized Filipino Marcus Douthit led Gilas with 37 points.

Ranidel de Ocampo and Marcio Lassiter chipped in with 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Gilas led by 3 points at halftime before breaking away in the third quarter, leading as much as 15 points.

In the final quarter, Gilas had the biggest lead of the game at 19 points before Taipei made a final push in the last few minutes of the game.

Taipei came as close as 7 points before Gilas put them away for good in the final 2 minutes.

The win sent Gilas to a semi-finals match against Jordan.

The Philippine team defeated Jordan, 72-64, earlier in the tournament.

Jordan made it to the semi-finals by ousting defending champion Iran with an 88-84 victory.

The last time a Philippine team made it to the semis in the FIBA Asia Championship was in 1987.

Jordan’s Al Nashaba pull the rug from under Team Melli’s feet

FIBA Asia: Smart Gilas Wins vs Syria, Nabs No. 2 Spot

Smart Gilas Pilipinas locks down on Syria, faces Chinese Taipei

Smart Gilas Pilipinas held Syria without a field goal for over six minutes with a smothering full-court pressure and to prevail, 75-52, Wednesday night in the Fiba Asia Championship.

The Nationals unloaded 16 points during the Syrian meltdown in the fourth quarter as they notched a third straight victory in the second round and a 4-1 record at the end of the group stages.

Ranidel De Ocampo’s follow-up dunk off a wayward Jimmy Alapag triple ignited the scoring outburst at the beginning of the fourth while Marcio Lassiter and Chris Tiu responded with jumpers and penetrations, opening a wide 65-45 gap.

Scores:
Philippines 75 - Douthit 20, de Ocampo 8, Tiu 8, Lutz 7, Casio 7, Alapag 6, Lassiter 5, Aguilar 4, Taulava 4, Williams 2, Baracael 2, Barroca 2.

Syria 52 - Al Hamwi 11, Gorges 9, Jilati 8, Nalbandian 6, Alsaman 5, Deeb 4, Osfira 4, Lubus 3, Daks 2, Al Katib 0.

Quarters: 14-11, 23-32, 49-45, 75-52

FIBA Asia: Smart Gilas vs Japan Game [VIDEO]

Smart Gilas Pilipinas won over Japan 83-76 on Tuesday, September 20, to earn their second victory for Round 2 of the 2011 FIBA Asia championship being held in Wuhan, China.

The nationals led in scoring all throughout the second half and didn't give the Japanese team the chance to get closer until the game ended. It was Japan's first loss in the competition.

Marcus Douthit was the leading scorer among the Filipino cagers, pouring in 19 of his 25 points and collecting 12 of his 18 rebounds in the last two quarters.

The Rajko Toroman-mentored Smart Gilas was able to stop Takuya Kawamura, restricting him to only twelve points, six of which were made in the third quarter. Japan also struggled with their rebounds and only had a free-throw conversion of 57%.

Scores:
Philippines 83 - Douthit 25, Alapag 15, Lassiter 15, Williams 12, Barroca 6, de Ocampo 4, Casio 4, Taulava 2. Lutz 0, Tiu 0
Japan 76 - J. Takeuchi 22, Shonaka 14, Hirose 13, T. Kawamura 12, K. Takeuchi 6, Ishizaki 5, Amino 4, Sakurai 0, Takeda 0, Kashiwagi 0, Matsui 0