Ranidel de Ocampo played his finest match under a Gilas Pilipinas 3.0 uniform yet, scoring as the Philippines pulled away late to defeat Spartak Primorye of Russia, 85-71 Tuesday in the 37th William Jones Cup at the Xin Zhuang Gymnasium in Taipei.
After Glazyrin hit an up and under move that pulled the Russian side within 54-61 early in the fourth quarter, de Ocampo hit five straight points including a triple to push the lead up to 66-54.
A bankshot by Dondon Hontiveros and baskets coming from Matt Ganuelas-Rosser and Calvin Abueva made it 72-59 halfway in the payoff period.
Spartak Primorye struggled to come back after firing blanks from long range, although free throws cut the Gilas lead down to 73-65.
De Ocampo and Hontiveros then hit long range bombs in between an Asi Taulava basket to seal the deal, 81-65.
Five players finished in double-digits led by De Ocampo’s 13 points including 3-for-4 from three-point area.
It was a highly-physical battle from the get-go which saw Sonny Thoss leaving early after Russian center Alimdzhan Fediushin hit his head inadvertently on the rebound play, causing blood to come out of the right side of his head.
Later in the first period, Terrence Romeo was shoved by Alexksei Goliakhov, drawing an offensive foul but Goliakhov went after Romeo and had to be restrained.
Fediushin then threw the ball into Romeo’s face during he dead ball which prompted Asi Taulava to clear the bench and go after the Russian big.
Officials and teammates were able to restore order after that point, and the Russian club dominated early on with a 20-10 lead after a Goliakhov.
But Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario led a fightback for Gilas bridging the first and second periods as they scored underneath the basket.
Triples by JC Intal and Terrence Romeo later on gave Gilas a 32-27 lead, as the Philippine side held on for a 43-40 halftime lead.
Late in the third quarter, Gilas leaned on Calvin Abueva’s exploits after he delivered 6 points in a 10-2 run which turned a 51-46 lead to a 61-48 Gilas cushion.
Romeo added 11 points while Abueva, Tautuaa, and Matt Ganuelas-Rosser all had 10 points.
Spartak Primorye struggled from the outside, nailing only 5-for-29 and were also stymied by the Gilas defense which forced 19 turnovers.
The Scores:
Philippines (85) – De Ocampo 13, Romeo 11, Abueva 10, Tautuaa 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 10, Intal 8, Taulava 7, Rosario 6, Hontiveros 6, Alapag 3, Thoss 1, Ramos 0.
Spartak Primorye (71) – Glazyrin 23, Goliakhov 12, Uziinskii 11, Savelev 10, Fedorchuk 5, Fediushin 5, Ivanov 4, Zverkov 1, Pisarchuk 0.
Quarterscores: 20-23, 43-40, 61-50, 85-71.
