Smart Gilas Team Pilipinas defeats ASU of Jordan, 76-74. Topped Group A.

Pilipinas, AHOO3X! Smart Gilas Team Pinas has proved once again that they are not pushovers. With a 76-74 win against ASU of Jordan, they topped the group stage and enters the quarter-finals with 4-0 record. Here's the complete report of last night's game courtesy of FIBA-Asia.


Gilas Pilipinas escape past Jordan, PHL enters quarters v Syria

source: fibaasia.net

Dondon Hontiveros couldn’t have asked for a better way to celebrate his 34th birthday than steering hosts Smart Gilas to an emotionally charged 76-74 win against Jordanian champions ASU on Wednesday.

In a game termed “explosively tactical” by both coaches, Hontiveros stood as a beacon firing six long-rangers in his team-high 23 points, as Smart Gilas held their nerve in front of a partisan crowd.

The win, which took Smart Gilas to 4-0, pitted the home team against Al Jala’a of Syria in the quarterfinals for Friday leaving ASU line up against last year’s runners-up Al Rayyan.

“This was a typical international game,” Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman heaved a sigh of relief.

“Very tactical. They had the size, but I think we did very well to stop them,” he added.

“Of course we ran into foul trouble, but that is a part of the game,” he said.

Naturalised American Marcus Douthit played for just about five minutes in the second half, but during his presence added size and contributed 14 points and half as many rebounds.

Asi Taulava stepped up to make up for Douthit’s absence with a dozen rebounds.

“I have been saying from day one that Asi’s presence in the team is a great strength for us. He made us breathe a lot easier in defense,” Toroman said.

“Offensively we have to pull our socks,” the coach said of the quarterfinal clash against Jala’a.

Smart Gilas shot a mere 27/74 on the field, but were slightly better – as reflected in the score-line – ASU’s 23/63.

“They out ran us, that was expected,” said ASU coach Fredrick Oniga. “But they defended our size very well. That was the key,” he said.

American Jameel Watkins had a 25-point game-high for ASU.

Scores:

Pilipinas-Smart Gilas 76 — Hontiveros 23 Douthit 14, Casio 12, Baracael 9, Barroca 6, Tiu 4, Taulava 4, Lutz 2, Lassiter 2, Aguilar 0.

ASU-Jordan 74 - Watkins 25, Abbas 20, Daghles 17, Mohammad 6, Sous 4, Soobzokov 2, Alawadi 0, Islam 0.

Quarter scores: 12-16, 27-28, 45-46, 76-74

June 03, 2011 - Friday
QUARTER-FINALS (Live on IBC 13)
2:00pm - Iraq vs. Lebanon
4:00pm - Saudi Arabia vs. Iran
6:00pm - Philippines vs. Syria
8:00pm - Jordan vs. Qatar

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