Gilas bows out of Dubai tourney
DUBAI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - The size and firepower of Lebanon’s Sagesse team proved too much for the young Smart Gilas cadet squad as the Philippine team bowed out of contention in the 24th Dubai International Basketball Championship after absorbing a third straight defeat Thursday, 65-95, at the hands of the top Lebanese Club in their quarter-final bout.
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The Lebanese squad rode on the superior skills of its three American reinforcements – Aaron Harper, DeShawn Sims and Chudney Gray – who combined for 61 points, or, 64% of Sagesse’s total output. Harper top-scored for Sagesse with 27 points, followed by Sims and Gray with 20 and 14 respectively. KG Canaleta was the lone bright spot in Gilas’ offense as he exploded for 32 markers, on eight of 11 sniping from beyond the arc. Naturalized import Marcus Douthit added 11 points, nine boards and three blocks.
Sagesse, the current leader in Lebanon’s Division 1 league, started with a 10-0 blast that set the trend for the game. The Nationals were held scoreless for over three minutes from tip-off until Douthit converted on a post play. But the Lebanese continued the first quarter onslaught and finished with a commanding 28-12 edge after the first ten minutes of play. In the second canto, it was Gray’s turn to lead Sagesse after uncorking a three-ball to start another 15-6 salvo that put his team ahead 46-25 with still 2:41 left in the first half. Canaleta and Gray traded baskets in the ensuing play but Sagesse remained comfortably ahead, 48-30, at half time.
The gritty Philippine side started the third period like a house on fire with a 14-5 run anchored on Canaleta’s three straight triples and Fil-American guard Justin Melton’s drive to slice the deficit to just nine points, at 44-53. But that turned out to be the closest the Pinoys could bridge the gap as the Lebanese responded with a 15-7 sprint to end the third quarter on top, 68-51.
ALSO READ: Lessons learned from Gilas' first loss in Dubai
The fourth quarter was pretty much the same as the more experienced Sagesse team pounced on the absence of Douthit, who sprained his ankle after a post play. Without Douthit, Gilas lost its post game and went to its outside game. But two treys from Canaleta and one from Ronjay Buenafe were all the Nationals got in the last ten minutes of play.
Gilas plays Mouttahed of Lebanon Friday for fifth place honors. The Filipinos hope to repeat their 79-77 win against the Tripoli-based squad to end the tournament on a winning note.
“We came here to learn and I think we learned a lot about ourselves (from this tournament),” said head coach Chot Reyes in the post-game meeting. Gilas will return to Manila on January 20 before flying to Hong Kong the next day for another invitational tournament. The men’s national team is gearing up for the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship in Manila later this year, the qualifying tournament for the 2014 World Cup in Spain.
ALSO READ: Gilas off to good start in Dubai, nips Lebanon
The cadet pool was formed as a training team to succeed the Gilas squad that will be made up of mostly top players from the PBA. In the Dubai tournament, only three PBA cagers namely Canaleta, Buenafe and JayR Reyes joined the team comprised of amateur standouts Greg Slaughter, Matt Ganuelas, Garvo Lanete, Kevin Alas, Ronald Pascual, RR Garcia, Jake Pascual, Melton and Isaac Holstein, plus Douthit. Coach Chot Reyes is expected to tap some PBA players for the Hong Kong tournament to beef-up the two-month old cadet squad. He is assisted by another former national coach, Joseph Uichico.
Editor's note: The blogger's views do not represent Yahoo! Southeast Asia's position on the topic or issue being discussed in this post.
