FIBA-Asia: Gilas routs Syria, take No. 2 spot

Smart Gilas-Pilipinas is exactly where it wanted to be heading into the quarterfinal phase of the 26th FIBA-Asian Championship For Men. The Nationals got their bearing back just in time to escape Syria's upset bid, 75-52, and put a lock on the number two spot in Group F Wednesday at the Wuhan gymnasium in China. Host China later in the night routed Japan, 84-58, to claim the top seeding in the bracket. The Japanese, absorbing their second straight loss, fell to third while Jordan finished fourth. Trailing by nine at the turn, the Nationals turned on the heat in the second half and flustered the Syrians with a merciless pressing defense to finally control the tempo of the match. Jimmy Alapag's driving lay-up and a split free throw allowed Gilas to regain the lead, 45-43, and was never threatened after that en route to the 23-point blowout win. The Nationals completed a three-game sweep of their Group F assignments in the second round to finish with a 4-1 (win-loss) record. They will now meet Chinese-Taipei in the knockout stage set Friday. The Taiwanese finished third in Group E, topped by Iran and followed by South Korea. Lebanon placed fourth. Marcus Douthit, who scored Gilas' first 12 points, tallied a team-high 20 markers to become the only player to finish in double figures for the Nationals. The Nationals opened the final period with a 14-0 run for a 63-45 spread. Marcio Lassiter capped that scoring run with a completed three-point play. Eder Arjo George ended Syria's scoring drought in the 3:38 mark of the fourth to cut the deficit to 16. In all, the Nationals held the Syrians to just seven points and three field goals in the final 10 minutes. "It was a tough and ugly win for us. We didn't come out the way we're supposed to come out," said Lassiter. "Good thing, we picked up in the second half by making some adjustments. It all boiled down as to who wants it more." — JVP, GMA News