China edges past Philippines in Asia Cup Basketball

With its outside guns jammed for most of last night, Team Philippines got off to a sputtering start in the fourth Fiba-Asia Cup Basketball Championship here.
China, represented in this tournament by a tall but young squad, made the most out of the Filipinos’ cold shooting and escaped with a 71-68 Group A win before a lean crowd at the Ota Gymnasium.
The Chinese erased an eight-point deficit heading into the final 6:32 after the Filipinos threw up bricks from there, holding the Philippines scoreless for close to five minutes to grab the lead to stay, 67-64.
“I thought we played hard against this very good and very tall young Chinese team. We got our chances but we blew them all,” rued Philippine Team coach Chot Reyes.
“We couldn’t make our free throws and that’s the story of the game. We missed them and we lost,” he added after the 11 points of Ranidel de Ocampo led the Philippine squad. “Hopefully we learn from this and we make our free throws in the next games.”
The Filipinos missed 10 of 24 free throws and made just six of 35 tries from beyond three-point range, numbers that certainly doomed them against a team that is being groomed to represent China in the 2016 Brazil Olympics.
Next up for the Philippines is Lebanon, the only squad to beat the Filipinos in their scintillating championship run in the Jones Cup in Taipei last month.
Game time is 7 p.m. and the Philippines would be seeking to avenge a 19-point loss in the Jones Cup and get its campaign here back on the winning track.
“It was an excellent game. We know the Filipinos are good but we beat them in the end, and it’s a good experience for our young players,” said Chinese coach Fan Bin, a former national team player for China.
China took leads of as many as 11 points in the first half before the Philippines played with so much resolve to make it a close game at the end of the third and eventually take a 64-56 lead with 6:32 left.
Jared Dillinger, inserted into the lineup after the Jones Cup with Solomon Mercado having eligibility issues, led the cracking third quarter surge before hurting his knee in one fast break play.
And that, as Reyes admitted, eventually told on the entire Philippine Five.
“He (Dillinger) asked to be taken out and I stayed with the five that had been very effective all throughout with me. Apparently, it was a wrong decision,” said Reyes.
Marcus Douthit and Larry Fonacier chipped in with 10 points each, with Gabe Norwood contributing nine and LA Tenorio, the Jones Cup MVP, shooting eight.