Gilas Pilipinas pulled away late using a fourth quarter run highlighted by triples and a stellar play from Moala Tautuaa to clip Japan, 75-60 Wednesday in the 37th William Jones Cup at the Xin Zhuang Gymnasium in Taipei.
It was the third victory for the Philippines in four outings, putting themselves to the upper half of the Jones Cup standings.
From a slim 46-44 edge to open the fourth period, Gilas went on a crippling 10-2 run which included rim-rattling dunks from Tautuaa as the nationals took a 56-46 lead.
Japan tried its best to mount a comeback but the floodgates opened after that point, as Gilas suddenly nailed triple after triple.
Ranidel de Ocampo, Gary David, Gabe Norwood, and Jayson Castro each hit a long range bomb as Gilas extended the margin to 75-58 with only seconds remaining in the match.
Terrence Romeo once again led Gilas with an all-around play consisting of 16 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists.
Tautuaa scored 6 of his 10 points in the fourth quarter to provide spark while Castro and De Ocampo both added 10 points apiece.
Gilas held control of the match early behind impressive defense in the interior and points in transition by Castro and David, giving the Philippines a 9-4 lead.
But the pace started to pick up for Japan as well as they hit baskets inside to pull within 10-11.
Triples by Norwood in the third frame once again gave Gilas some cushion at 42-37, but Joji Takeuchi and Daiki Tanaka kept the hard-fighting Japanese crew within distance.
That was until the Gilas side outscored its counterparts 29-16 in the payoff period to head into their match against Iran tomorrow with momentum.
Gilas posted a 45-33 lead in rebounding while also hitting 7 more threes, 12-5 in the win.
Takeuchi led the East Asian squad with 15 points and 13 rebounds.
The Scores:
Philippines (75) –Â Romeo 16, Tautuaa 10, De Ocampo 10, Castro 10, Norwood 9, David 8, Pingris 3, Intal 3, Abueva 2, Rosario 2, Ganuelas-Rosser 2, Ramos 0.
Japan (60) – Takeuchi 15, Hiejima 12, Furukawa 8, Tanaka 6, Tabuse 6, Kanamaru 5, Mitsuhara 4, Arao 2, Hirose 2, Hashimoto 0, Matsui 0.
Quarterscores: 11-10, 29-25, 46-44, 75-60.
