MANILA: Fighting hard in a game it could very well afford to lose, Gilas Pilipinas on Tuesday night kept on rolling in the Fiba-Asia Cup – but barely.

Paul Lee and Ranidel De Ocampo drained timely three-pointers in the stretch as the Filipinos nipped Jordan, 71-70, to stay undefeated and top Group B for the lightest assignment in the first round of the KO stages at the Wuhan Gymnasium in Wuhan, China.

De Ocampo hit a triple that eventually rounded out scoring for the Filipinos with 38.2 ticks remaining before Gilas Pilipinas sat on pins and needles in the final six seconds as Wassem Al-Sous missed a wide-open three-point attempt at the buzzer.

It was the third straight win for the Philippines, which is using this tournament to try several players out while at the same time get near top form for the World Cup next month and the Asian Games in Korea in September.

Lee finished with 16 points and top-scored for the Philippines for the third straight game, hitting the last of his three treys with 4:24 to go that forged a 60-all tie which fuelled the Filipinos’ finishing kick.

It was another performance that could have more or less sealed Lee’s spot on the team as he rose to the challenge during the most critical times yet again.

The Philippines will then clash with India in the first round slated Wednesday after the Indians finished fourth in Group A.

Jordan, now being coached by original Gilas Pilipinas mentor Rajko Toroman of Serbia, dropped to 1-2 and was third in Group B. The Jordanians will clash with defending champion Iran in the first round.

China, the host which actually wound up tied with Iran at 3-1 but won the tiebreak because of the winner-over-the-other rule, was No. 1 in Group A and drew winless Singapore as a first KO stage opponent.

Japan, the No. 3 seed in Group A, will slug it out with Chinese-Taipei, the Group B No. 2, for the place in the Final Four.

The Philippines actually lost an 11-point lead early in the second quarter because of some tentative plays in the final six minutes of the first half, settling for a 30-all tie before trailing by as large as five near the end of the third.

Lee then committed two quick fouls at the start of the fourth trying to play defense on the peppery Al-Sous, giving coach Chot Reyes no other option but to sit him out until the final five minutes.

But Lee made his presence felt immediately upon his return, hitting that trey and then feeding Rain or Shine teammate Beau Belga for a layup that touched off a 9-2 tear and gave the Philippines some breathing room, 66-62, going into the final 2:59.

Rasheim Wright, Jordan’s naturalized point guard who was having an atrocious offensive night until the final three minutes, then brought the Jordanians back in the game.

The 6-foot-1 combo guard first completed a three-point play off De Ocampo that had Jordan inching to within 65-66, only for De Ocampo to respond on the other end with an awkward running jumper.

Wright then had a keyhole jumper after a Muhammad Alhamarsheh free throw to forge the game’s last tie at 68 before De Ocampo rifled in that booming triple under heavy pressure from left quarter court.

Marcus Douthit also stepped up offensively and finished in twin digits for the first time in the tournament with 13 points. De Ocampo wound up with 14 and the duo plucked down a total of 15 rebounds.

The Filipinos, who defeated Chinese-Taipei on Sunday and then had an easy time against Singapore, showed some improvement in handling the ball, committing 14 turnovers.

Al Sous paced the Jordanians with 14.