The way he acted and played against Ginebra Wednesday night, it was as if he never suffered any injury at all.
The 6-foot-11 naturalized player scored 30 points – 14 in the fourth quarter – to go with 17 rebounds, powering Smart-Gilas to a wire-to-wire 111-104 victory over Ginebra as the Nationals secured the first outright berth in the semifinal round of the PBA Commissioner’s Cup at the Araneta Colizeum.
Douthit missed the entire fourth quarter in Smart-Gilas’ 98-90 defeat to Derby Ace on March 23 after hurting his left ankle and then had to be rested against Powerade in a contest the Nationals still won, 98-97. He returned aching for action, and he provided the clutch baskets down the stretch as the guest team clinched its seventh win in eight games.
“To be in the semifinals is great for us. Probably nobody expected we can play at that level. We played a great game,” said Nationals’ coach Rajko Toroman. “I think we showed that this team has character in difficult moments. We plated an amazing defense in the first half and we were aggressive.
“For now, we want to improve more on our confidence going into the FIBA-Asia Championships (in September) and in the Champions’ Cup (in May).”
Douthit also had five assists and two blocks, Marcio Lassiter contributed 21 points on 3-of-4 shooting from the three-point area, and JV Casio added 16 points and five assists for Smart-Gilas, which played without skipper Chris Tiu because of a left shoulder injury he suffered when the Nationals rallied from a 23-point deficit in the victory against the Tigers.
Air21 also had a big night, drawing 25 points from import Alpha Bangura, 20 from Dondon Hontiveros and 18 points and 12 rebounds from Danny Seigle in a 110-101 victory over Meralco to pump life into its playoffs bid.
The Express, their lineup enhanced by experience with the addition of Hontiveros, Danny Seigle, Dorian Peña and Paul Artadi in the blockbuster trade with also-ran San Miguel Beer, unleashed a 16-0 blast late in the fourth quarter to wipe out a 96-92 deficit to gain a 108-96 spread on the way to their first back-to-back win in the tournament and their third in seven outings. Air21 beat Rain or Shine in its last outing last March 20, 94-92.
After a shocking maiden conference of advancing to the quarterfinals in the Philippine Cup, Meralco now has kissed its playoffs hopes goodbye. The Bolts, unable to reach the chemistry they wanted since acquiring Sol Mercado from Rain or Shine in the off-season, dropped their sixth game with only two wins to show.
Air21, which only committed five turnovers the entire game, now will have its sights on sweeping the last two games against Powerade and Alaska to have a crack at the quarterfinals. The Tigers, along with the Bolts and San Miguel Beer, are the ones eliminated so far from the playoffs where only six berths are allotted.
Champ Oguchi had a night-high 39 points for Meralco.
“The guys wanted to win to stay alive. We got our first back-to-back wins, and credit goes to the players,” said Air21 coach Bong Ramos.
“We kept alive our playoff hopes, and it’s up to the players to nurture it. We can’t rely on the other teams losing their games.”
The Nationals actually led from start to finish, led by as many as 19 points in the third quarter on a three-pointer by Japeth Aguilar, but had to thwart what had always been expected from Ginebra when the franchise is behind – a searing comeback.
The Kings significantly slashed that 19-point deficit to within five points thrice, but every time they did, the Nationals answered back with clutch baskets reflecting how organized and disciplined the ball club had become.
It was Douthit, though, who may have provided the biggest blows.
He completed a three-point play when Ginebra threatened to within 86-80, and then energized the Nationals with an emphatic throw-down follow-up off a miss by Mac Baracael with 58 seconds to go after the Kings moved once more to within dangerous grounds, 101-95.
Smart-Gilas’ last no-bearing assignment comes against Meralco, a game Toroman said they will treat with importance just like every game they fought in this short import-spiced conference.
“We will play Meralco like the way we play every team,” Toroman said.
“I will not rest anybody and we will try to win that game.”
