The Smart-Gilas Pilipinas showed plenty of character as they came all the way back from a 13-point deficit yesterday at the start of the fourth quarter to frustrate Japan, 88-84, in the 34th William Jones Cup at the TPEC Gym in Taipei.
The win was the fourth in a row for the Gilas and it landed them at the top of the standings alongside Iran. However, they bled for this one as they had to overhaul a, 58-71 deficit behind the inside play of naturalized player, Marcus Douthit and the outside sniping of Jeff Chan, Gary David and Gabe Norwood.
Douthit had 26 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks, Chan added 14 while Norwood had 11 points but none more important than the corner three-pointer that he sank with 2:13 left in the game which gave them the lead for good, 82-81. After that, Douthit scored on an uncontested lay-up off a nifty assist by Chan on the fastbreak that put the Gilas on top, 84-81 with 1:36 remaining.
On Japan’s offensive, big man Kosuke Takeuchi was forced into a dribbling violation, after which Douthit sank two more free-throws to pad the lead to five. Takatoshi Furukawa sank a three-pointer for Japan to slice the Gilas lead to two, 84-86, with 20 ticks left on the clock but Chan sealed the win by calmly making two more freebies.
The Gilas were still down by 11, 66-77, after a basket by Takeuchi but a three by Gary David, two free-throws by LA Tenorio and another three from the corner by Chan put them within one, 78-79.
Next up for the Gilas will be Lebanon which they will face today at 3 pm.