TAIPEI: LA Tenorio was thinking Michael Jordan all the way last night.
And in many respects, he was just like the greatest player of all time for the Philippines, which won the 34th edition of the Jones Cup basketball tournament with a high-wire 76-75 decision of the United States at the Taipei PE College gymnasium here.
Tenorio hit 11 fourth quarter points and carried the Filipinos on his tiny frame when the going was roughest, hitting the go-ahead short jumper and snaring down the most important rebound of the night that sealed the Philippines’ win.
“To tell you honestly, we are already very tired,” Tenorio, at 5-foot-8 the smallest man in the tournament, said. “But I reminded myself of what Michael Jordan said, that ‘the heart never gets tired.’
“Luckily, my shots in the fourth quarter fell in,” added Tenorio, who on Saturday against Taipei-A also scored all of his 11 points in the fourth quarter and led the Filipinos to a 76-72 victory. “I just told myself to keep on playing despite the odds.”
Tenorio shoved the Philippines in front to stay with a jumper in the keyhole for what turned out to be the final score, and when Michal Kearse missed a running jumper off the glass, Tenorio skied for the rebound which eventually sent Jeff Chan to the line with 1.9 seconds to go.
Chan missed the first free throw, and coach Chot Reyes asked him to deliberately miss the second, which left just nine-tenths of a second on the clock and gave the Americans no choice but to throw up a prayer.
Tenorio’s efforts didn’t go unnoticed, as an international panel of sportswriters gave him the ultimate tribute later on, naming him the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, probably the smallest man ever to win the award in the tournament’s history.
“Before the game, I just told them (players): ‘Imagine the Philippines playing the USA for a gold medal in a basketball game,” Reyes told media. “To play them for a gold medal, I don’t think that will happen again in our lives.
“I asked them to take advantage of the opportunity, and they delivered and played their hearts out.”
Marcus Douthit scattered 17 points that went with 12 rebounds and Chan was again deadly from the outside, shooting five triples on the way to 18 points.
James Justice, the 5-foot-9 American guard who owns an astounding 52-inch vertical leap, led the Americans with 17 points like Wayne Arnold.
The United States couldn’t maximize the advantage it had in size, as the Philippines gang-rebounded like crazy and used the double-team defense to great effect.
The Philippines wound up with a 7-1 record and won the tournament for actually the fourth time, with the last coming in 1998 with the Centennial Team coached by Tim Cone.
The great Ron Jacobs won the first two for the country, coaching a Ricardo Brown-led squad to the title in 1981 and then four years later with a team bannered by Dennis Still, Chip Engelland and Jeff Moore.
Philippines stuns US, wins Jones Cup for 4th time
