Down go the hosts!
Gilas Pilipinas masterfully bounced back from their stinging defeat to Canada yesterday as they obliterated Chinese Taipei-A, 88-72, to earn their first win in the 39th William Jones Cup, Sunday night at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gym.
Christian Standhardinger led the Nationals’ balanced attack with 17 markers and 15 rebounds. Matthew Wright also produced 17 spiked by four treys, while Kiefer Ravena and Roger Pogoy had 15 and 10, respectively.
Gilas started much better this time, and was able to post their first double-digit lead, 40-30, with 5:02 in the second frame. Taipei though managed to tie it at 40, but the Filipinos’ 7-0 run ended by Mike Myers’ freebies widened the gap again, 47-40, at the half.
That period proved to be the home team’s last time to close in with Gilas. The Philippines went ablaze once more in the third chapter, leading to a favorable 11-point cushion, 64-53, after a Wright pull-up triple with 3:18 remaining.
The hosts tried to mount a comeback as they closed within six, 67-61, at the end of the third, but that proved to be their last hurrah as Gilas pulled away in the final canto. They even led by as much as 17, 86-69, after a Myers basket with 1:20 left to play, enough to seal the deal.
Myers scored just nine, but made his presence felt in rebounds once more as he hauled down 11 rebounds.
Lu Zheng-ru anchored Taipei-A with 16 points. Chou Po-Hsun had 14 markers and 10 rebounds, while Chou Yi-Hsiang had 13 points, three boards, and three assists. Veteran center Quincy Davis chipped in 11 markers, seven boards, and a game-high five blocks.
The Philippines convincingly won the battle of the boards, 54-38, and their ball movement was also in display as they had 16 assists. They also played the passing lanes notably, as they stole the ball 10 times.
Gilas will next face the other Taiwanese team, Chinese Taipei-Red, on Monday, July 17, at 3:00 PM.
The Scores:
Gilas Pilipinas (88) – Wright 17, Standhardinger 17, Ravena 15, Pogoy 10, Myers 9, Cruz 6, Ferrer 5, Tolomia 4, Jalalon 3, Parks 2, Paras 0, Belo 0.
Chinese Taipei-Blue (72) – Lu 16, Chou HP 14, Chou YH 13, Davis 11, Liu 6, Hu 5, Su 4, Chang 3, Chou 0, Tzeng 0, Yu 0.
Quarterscores: 23-22, 47-40, 67-61- 88-72.
