Pinoy 5 drops to 6th, ends Asiad stint on a sour note

GUANGZHOU — The Pilipinas-Smart Gilas men’s basketball team ended its 16th Asian Games campaign on a sour note, losing 71-81 to Qatar and matching its worst finish in the quadrennial meet Friday at the Yingdong Gymnasium. The Philippines was leading, 64-60, going ino the final period, but Qatar unleashed a 16-3 run engineered by Khalid Abdi to take a 76-67 lead with 5:24 remaining. The closest the Philippines could get was within six, 71-77, on Mac Baracael’s two free throws, but Qatar was steady from the free throw line down the stretch to keep the Filipinos at bay and finish at fifth place. The sixth-place finish was the worst for the Philippines. It also placed sixth in the Asiad in 1966. The Filipinos had made it to the semifinal round of the quadrennial meet cagefest since 1982, except in 2006 when the country was suspended by the International Basketball Federation because of a leadership struggle within the association. The Pilipinas-Smart Gilas squad had its chances, but it squandered a 10-point lead, 59-49, and was outscored by the Qataris, 32-12, bridging the third and fourth periods. “We have to do a better job next time," said Pilipinas-Smart Gilas head coach Rajko Toroman, the man tasked to lead the country’s possible return to Olympic basketball scene in 2012. “Sixth spot is not bad, but it is also not good for us. We will evaluate everything that happened here," added the Serbian mentor, who was responsible for steering Iran to its first-ever Olympic stint in 2008 following its dominance in the 2007 FIBA Asia Championship in Tokushima. Kelly Williams netted a team-high 20 points while Asi Taulava added 13 markers and 19 rebounds in what could be his last participation in the Asian Games. The 37-year-old Taulava, the oldest player among the Pinoy cagers, was a member of the 2002 Philipine squad that finished fourth in Busan. JV Casio added 10 points, but was only 3-of-10 from the field. Team captain Chris Tiu again struggled offensively as he shot 3-of-12 from the field to finish with nine points. Marcio Lassiter, who was averaging 8.8 points per game, was held down to just 2 on 1-of-10 shooting. “In the second half, we just couldn’t shoot. Just like in our game against South Korea," said Toroman, referring to his team’s 66-74 loss to the Koreans in the quarterfinals. The PHL 5 shot 34 percent from the field (24-of-70) and was 7-of-25 from the three-point line. - KY/RCJ, GMANews.TV