TAIPEI: For Philippine Team coach Chot Reyes, there was a valuable lesson learned in being walloped by Lebanon yesterday afternoon.

The Lebanese, sharper, bigger and obviously a lot fresher, ripped the Filipinos to shreds, 91-72, in a defeat that greatly dampened the Philippines’ chances of contending for the 34th Jones Cup championship at the Taipei Physical Education College gym here.

Lebanon, starring Elai Stephan and naturalized center Jarred Famous, was simply too much and too hot to handle for the Filipinos, who lost for the first time in five games and will go into their closing stretch of the tournament at a low.

Stephan scattered 28 points, and Famous dominated the inside with impunity to shoot 26 and snare down 11 rebounds as the Lebanese built leads of as many as 32 points to deal the Filipinos a thorough whipping.

The loss came at the heels of an impressive previous two days for the Philippines, which rallied from double-digit, second half deficits past Korea and Japan.

But the depth that they were buried in on yesterday was simply too much, and the Philippines would now have to treat its match against defending champion Iran today as a virtual championship showdown.

Reyes, though, judging from recent form, does not want to fan expectations.

“If we can beat Iran, I still think we have a chance,” PH coach Chot Reyes said. “But with the kind of game we played today, we have no chance.”

That game is slated at 3 p.m. before the Philippines collides with Taipei-A tomorrow and then the rock-solid United States on Sunday.

A sweep would give the Philippines just its third Jones Cup championship and first since the 1998 Centennial Team of Tim Cone. The first title came in 1985 with a team coached by the great Ron Jacobs.

“We got outplayed, they came in with a solid gameplan and kicked our butts,” Reyes continued. “That’s the best lesson we’ve learned so far in this tournament. Our players need to play successive game and get used to it.

“Our shooters can’t make shots, they didn’t have their legs,” said Reyes. “You can’t allow yourself to fall behind big and try and catch up.”

The Philippines was a miserable 3-of-16 from beyond the arc, and Stephan was 7-of-12, a heaven-and-earth disparity as far as shooting was concerned.

“You can’t win games shooting like that, because we are a small team and we need to open up the middle,” Reyes said.

Marcus Douthit was held to just 11 points, saddled by fouls, as usual, and the other reliable gunners like Gary David and Jeff Chan combined for just eight points.

“After the opening two games (against Iran and Korea), we weren’t a good reflection of our national team,” said Lebanon coach Ghassan Sarkis. “I felt the team spirit was still great even though we were losing.

“I felt, in the early stages (when the team was 0-4), it was us beating ourselves,” he explained. “With all due respect to the Philippines, I felt we were very dominant today.”

Gabe Norwood was the only bright spot for the Philippines, shooting 15 points coming off the bench.