Smart Gilas Pilipinas beats Chinese Taipei, makes Fiba Asia Championship Final 4

Marcus Douthit put up a monster game, scoring 37 points and grabbing 10 rebounds to lead the Smart Gilas Pilipinas to a huge 95-78 victory over Chinese Taipei in the quarterfinal round of the Fiba Asia Championship for Men yesterday in Wuhan, China.

The victory, the Philippines’ sixth in the tournament, gave the Nationals a seat in the semifinal round.

In the semis, Smart Gilas will face Jordan, which shocked defending champion Iran, 88-84, in another quarterfinal match yesterday.

Korea also took a semifinal seat with an 86-67 win over Japan while China was battling Lebanon as of press time for the right to face the Koreans.

The Philippines, meanwhile, will make its first semifinal stint in the tournament since 1987. It also has a good chance of making the championship round since it won against Jordan, 72-64, last Monday.

Douthit, the 6-foot-10 naturalized player of the Philippines, played like a well-oiled machine against the Taiwanese as he shot 56 percent from the floor and 80 percent from the freethrow line.

The Nationals also got a lot off local support from Ranidel de Ocampo and Marcio Lassiter, who chipped in 18 and 13 points, respectively.

Chinese Taipei had four players score in double figures headed by the 20 markers of Wen-Ting Tseng.

The Taiwanese, who haven’t won against the Philippines in all of their four encounters, had a good start, putting up a 23-14 lead in the first quarter.

The Nationals turned their game on in the second quarter and continued to play well in the second half to deny Chinese Taipei the victory.

An 11-0 tear early in the third behind a combined effort from Douthit, De Ocampo and Lassiter put up a 62-48 lead halfway through the quarter.

It was all Philippines from thereon as the Nationals built its biggest lead of 19, 76-57, early in the fourth.

But the Taiwanese were not ready to die down that easily as they put up a late rally. With the Philippines leading, 85-67, with four minutes left, Chinese Taipei ignited an 11-0 tear that sliced the deficit to 78-85 with still two minutes left. But that was the closest they could get as they committed costly turnovers while the Nationals maintained their poise down the stretch.