TOKYO: Still throwing up bricks from the outside, Team Philippines last night let Marcus Douthit do all the work inside in the stretch to bounce back hard in the Fiba-Asia Championship.
Douthit scored nine of his 25 points in the fourth period and keyed a strong finish by the Filipinos, who ripped Lebanon, 78-68, to get back in the groove at the Ota Gymnasium here.
The 6-foot-10 naturalized center also collared 21 rebounds and had a key block on legendary Lebanese forward Fadi El-Khatib when the game was truly on the line to highlight a great effort that had the Filipinos bouncing back from a sorry opening day loss to China on Friday.
“I felt that somebody has to step up,” said Douthit of his monster performance that upstaged the effort of former Providence College teammate Garnett Thompson, who is playing as Lebanon’s naturalized talent.
“My teammates allowed me to (take over the game),” Douthit, who had just 10 points against the young Chinese squad, added.
The win was the first for the Philippines in two games here, and it also avenged a 19-point loss to Lebanon in the Jones Cup, which the Filipinos won in Taipei last month after going 7-1.
“We needed to bounce back from a tough loss and we felt that we had something to avenge against this team,” said coach Chot Reyes.
“We didn’t take them seriously enough in Taipei and we paid the price for it,” added Reyes. “This win was big because it got us back in the groove.”
The victory more or less sealed No. 2 ranking for the Filipinos in their group. They close out with lightweights Uzbekistan today before playing Macau tomorrow.
Finishing with the No. 2 seed would give the Philippines the second-lightest assignment in the quarterfinals beginning on Sept. 20, basically avoiding an early clash with Group B heavyweights Iran and home team Japan.
El-Khatib, the 39-year-old star, returned to the Lebanese national team after missing out in the Jones Cup, playing the full 40 minutes and finishing with 24 points built around an 11-for-12 clip from the free throw line.
Thompson was also holding his own before an unmolested layup by Douthit with still over three minutes left got the Lebanese coach up in arms.
The 6-foot-9 high-leaper was yanked out of the ballgame by coaching staff, and Thompson exchanged harsh words with his head coach in the sidelines after the blame was put on him.
Douthit scored seven straight points and shoved the Philippines to a 70-61 lead with slightly over two minutes left, scoring from the inside with the Filipinos still miserable from the perimeter.
After shooting 17% from three-point country against the Chinese on Friday, the Philippines shot 2-of-15 against Lebanon for a 15% clip, with its only conversions coming in the first half.
The Filipinos missed six triple tries in the fourth against Lebanon only for Douthit to pull the team out of the fire.
Philippines bounces back with 78-68 win over Lebanon
