Smart Gilas Pilipinas sustains lethal form against Chinese Taipei for 2-0 start in Jones Cup

HSINCHUANG, Taiwan—Except for a raucous hometown crowd and a few verbal confrontations with the referees, Smart Gilas Pilipinas practically had little trouble disposing of Chinese Taipei, 90-78, Sunday night in the William Jones Cup.

Marcus Douthit exploited the mismatch in the paint, powering his way to 23 points and nine rebounds while Japeth Aguilar added 12 points, including a pair of rim-rattling dunks, as the hot-shooting Filipinos chalked up their second straight win following an opening-day stunner over defending champion Iran.

JV Casio buried two three-pointers and finished with 10 points while Chris Tiu, Marcio Lassiter, Mac Baracael and Chris Lutz were also impressive from the floor as Nationals opened up a double-digit lead in the second quarter that they protected throughout the one-sided encounter.

The game was virtually over halfway through the fourth with Smart Gilas building a 19-point advantage twice on Douthit’s freethrows.

“We prepared well for this game because we know they have a very good team,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

“Our strategy was not to let them hit open shots. We don’t them to change the game with those three-pointers,” Toroman added.

Outside shooting deserted the Taiwanese after going nine-of-28 from beyond-the-arc and hitting only 13-of-34 from the perimeter while the Filipinos shot 57 percent (26 of 46).

The Taiwanese led only once throughout throughout the game, but only for a technical foul slapped on Douthit for excessive complaining, which allowed Chinese Taipei to momentarily grab the upperhand, 15-14, on Lin’s freethrows.
But Lutz drilled a fallaway, Douthit scored underneath and Mac Baracael completed a three-point play on the other end and the Filipinos quickly regained control.

Smart Gilas kept the Taiwanese on chase mode for the next seven minutes before the hosts cashed in on their free throws, 36-43, less than three minutes before halftime.

Marcio Lassiter’s stealthy baseline drive, a put back by Aguilar and a Dondon Hontiveros’ prayer that beat the clock gave Smart Gilas a commanding 49-36 lead.

Meanwhile, Korea had five players in double figures to nail a second straight win at the expense of United Arab Emirates, 102-54, while Jordan sustained its fiery opening-day form with a 93-63 win over Malaysia to keep pace with the Koreans.

The scores:

SMART GILAS 90- Douthit 23, Aguilar 12, Casio 10, Hontiveros 9, Lassiter 9, Lutz 9, Tiu 8, Baracael 8, Barroca 2, Taulava 0, Ababou 0.

CHINESE TAIPER 78- Hsin 17, Wen 14, Chih 13, Cheng 9, Shou 8, I Chieh 7, Chin 6, Tsung 2, Chia 2,Douglas 0, Po 0, Hsueh 0

Quarterscores: 21-17; 49-36; 72-58; 90-78

June Navarro, Inquirer.net