The youthful Gilas Pilipinas capped off their 39th William Jones Cup campaign on a winning note as they took down Iran, 90-82, Sunday afternoon at a jam-packed Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium here in Taiwan.
The Philippines, which won the 2016 edition after being represented by an import-laden Mighty Sports squad, concluded their run with a 6-3 card, good enough to finish the tournament as the fourth-placers.
All their losses came from top teams Canada, Lithuania, and Korea.
However, despite the win, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes was still far from impressed.
“I thought this was the worst game we played here,” said the outspoken tactician. “We played a lot, lot better in the games we lost.”
“Maybe the players were tired already,” Reyes furthered, as Gilas played their ninth game in nine days. “Or, they may have overlooked Iran. I really thought we played well below our potential in this game.”
Import Mike Myers powered Gilas with a double-double of 21 points and 11 rebounds. Matthew Wright supplied 20 markers spiked by three outside shots, while Fil-German Christian Standhardinger produced 13.
It was a tight affair right from the opening period until Gilas got their groove on in the final frame, blasting the Iranians to establish a favorable 15-point lead, 81-66, after a Mike Myers bucket off a goaltending call with 6:26 left.
The Middle Easterns though were able to cut the deficit to single digits, but time was not on their side anymore. A Von Pessumal jumper in the closing seconds proved to be the finishing touch for the Filipinos’ victory.
Still, Reyes believes that the Cadets’ whole experience in Taipei — their first-ever chance of playing with each other –brought a lot of positives.
“Overall, it was a good tour,” said the coach. “Not only did we leave a good impression here considering that this is just our third week together. It speaks well of the program.”
Masoud Soleymani and Sajjad Pazrofteh paced Iran with 21 markers apiece. Navid Khajehzadeh scored 12.
The Nationals shot 22 of their 42 shots from inside to the perimiter, and were also able to hit eight of their 26 three-point shots. However, Iran edged them on rebounds, 36-34, and had more amount of assists, 20-16.
The Scores:
Gilas Pilipinas (90) – Myers 21, Wright 20, Standhardinger 13, Pogoy 9, Ravena 8, Parks 5, Cruz 5, Ferrer 3, Jose 2, Pessumal 2, Tolomia 2.
Iran (82) – Soleymani 21, Pazrofteh 21, Khajehzadeh 12, Mozafarivanani 11, Rezaeifar 11, Beigiharchegani 3, Falahat 2, Nasl 1, Reaei 0, Rezaei 0, Mohammadi 0.
Quarterscores: 26-22, 50-42, 70-62, 90-82.
