Gilas 5 bounces back, thrashes Qatar
from gmanews.tv
GUANGZHOU – Smart-Gilas Pilipinas buried a forgettable performance against Iran with a 90-68 trashing of Qatar for its first win in Group F in the 16th Asian Games men’s basketball competition Wednesday at the Huangpu Gymnasium here.
The twin guard combo of JV Casio and Chris Tiu sparked the PHL 5’s impressive start while the second unit, led by Marcio Lassiter, sustained the momentum as the Nationals stayed in the hunt for a quarterfinals berth.
Casio fired a game-high 22 points, 15 coming in the first half where the Philippines shot 50 percent from the field (20-of-40) to take a commanding 49-28 halftime spread, and was never seriously threatened by the taller and heftier Qataris.
Lassiter added 13 while Tiu and Greg Slaughter contributed 12 points apiece for the PHL 5, which will face Japan Thursday at 9:30 p.m.
Mac Baracael and Asi Taulava each had 10 markers for coach Rajko Toroman, whose wards bounced back from a 48-65 loss to the Iranians on Tuesday.
Behind Casio and Tiu, the Filipino dribblers took an early 10-3 lead before Slaughter came off the bench to stretch their advantage to 23-14.
The Qataris, who beat India in their first game, 97-48, scored the first six points of the second period to get back in the game, 20-23.
But Casio sank a three-pointer that ignited a sizzling 26-8 run. He ended that scoring rampage with another triple, and the Filipinos enjoyed a 21-point bubble at the turn (49-28).
Qatar never got the opportunity to unleash a rally in the face of the Filipinos’ stifling defense.
PHL 5’s lead reached as high as 27 points, 81-54, on Greg Slaughter’s one-handed slam off a feed by Casio, who had five assists in the game.
The Filipinos outrebounded the taller Qataris, 45-27, and shot 47 percent from the field, 35-of-75, compared to Qatar’s 22-of-61 shooting (36 percent).
Targuy Ngombo led Qatar with 18 points but shot 5-of-16 from the field. He was a non-factor in the first half when the Philippines gained early control of the game. – JVP/KY, GMANews.TV
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