Jayson Castro and SMART Gilas Pilipinas had to survive the gutsy Akatsuki Five of Japan to open their 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers victorious, 77-71, Friday evening at the Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Gymnasium in Tokyo.
“We knew we were going to be in for a tough match,” said SMART Gilas head coach Chot Reyes. “Even if we had a good lead at the start, we knew that they’re gonna come back because they’re a quality team.
“[But] even when they grabbed that lead, we stayed calm. We didn’t panic. And that is the most important part of the ball game,” added the veteran bench strategist.
Castro emerged as the Filipino dribblers’ top performer, with 20 markers alongside seven rebounds and six assists. Naturalized center Andray Blatche backed him up with 13 markers on 11 shots to go with 12 boards.
SMART Gilas was already ahead comfortably by 10, 70-60, with 3:44 left in the final frame, until Japan came back roaring with a 9-2 spurt — capped by Yuki Togashi’s triple off a screen — to knock within distance, 72-69, with 1:39 to go.
From there, Castro took over to save the game for the Filipinos. The veteran internationalist nailed a cold-blooded triple off an isolation play to widen the Philippines’ lead to six, 75-69, with 1:16 remaining on the clock.
The Japanese still tried to threaten their Southeast Asian counterparts, but their shots could not hit their targets. As a result, SMART Gilas converted at the other end, and Roger Pogoy’s lay-up iced the match, 77-69, with 26 ticks left to play.
Matthew Wright supplied 12 points for SMART Gilas, while Gabe Norwood filled up the statsheet with 10 points, seven rebounds, four assists, and four steals.
Makoto Hiejima powered Japan with 20 points, scoring 12 in the first half, on top of five rebounds, and five assists. Three-point specialist Daiki Tanaka and naturalized forward Ira Brown each provided 10 points, with the latter gobbling up 15 boards.
Both squads shot just 30-plus percent from the field, with SMART Gilas making 38 percent of their shots — most of them coming from their 21 assists. Both Japan and the Philippines committed an identical 15 turnovers.
The Philippines will look to sweep the first window of the Asian Qualifiers as they take on Chinese-Taipei in home soil on November 27, Monday, 7:30 PM at the SMART Araneta Coliseum in Cubao, Quezon City.
The Scores:
SMART Gilas (77) – Castro 20, Blatche 13, Wright 12, Norwood 10, Fajardo 6, Abueva, Aguilar 5, Pogoy 5, Ravena 1, Alas 0, Rosario 0
Japan (71) – Hiejima 20, Brown 10, Tanaka 10, Togashi 8, Baba 7, Harimoto 7, Shinoyama 4, Takeuchi 3, Ota 2
Quarterscores: 18-10, 37-28, 63-55, 77-71.
