Douthit dominates as Smart Gilas turns back Lebanon

Smart Gilas 2.0 bounced back from a tough loss to China to outplay Asian powerhouse Lebanon, 78-68, to get its FIBA Asia Cup campaign in Tokyo, Japan, back on track.

Marcus Douthit won the battle of the naturalized players, hitting 25 points, including seven straight in a crucial 9-2 run in the fourth period, to go along with 21 rebounds as he thoroughly outplayed his Lebanese counterpart Garnett Thompson.

Thompson, a 32-year-old six-foot-nine power forward from Providence, had 17 points, but only two in fourth period, and was unable to stop Douthit down low.

Unlike in the China game where they relied too much on three-point shots, taking 35 attempts and making only six, the Filipinos attempted only 13 against Lebanon, preferring to go to Douthit on pick-and-roll plays which the Lebanese had trouble stopping.

Lebanon, with the comebacking Fadi El-Khatib leading the way, took a 41-38 advantage at the half. The lead changed hands a few times early in the third period, before the Philippines went ahead for good at 51-49 on a tip-in by Douthit with 2:50 left.

A fastbreak drive by LA Tenorio plus two free throws by Douthit gave Gilas a 59-53 lead at the end of the third, but the Lebanese sliced the lead to two at 61-59 on a basket by El-Khatib.

After Ranidel De Ocampo got a tough turnaround shot to bounce in, Thompson scored his only bucket of the fourth period to cut Gilas’ lead to 63-61 with 5:47 left. Douthit then took over, putting together seven straight points to push the lead to 70-61 with 3:27 left.

Lebanon answered back with a 5-0 run capped by Jean El Nour’s two free throws with 2:17 left, but Gary David buried a crucial pull-up jumper to put Gilas up by six with two minutes left.

El-Khatib, widely regarded as the finest basketball player that Lebanon has produced, scored on a tough drive with 1:10 left to cut the lead to four again. After Jared Dillinger missed a jumper, Lebanon had a chance to inch even closer, but Douthit came up with a huge block on El-Khatib, grabbed the loose ball, and rifled it to David, who scored on a breakaway lay-up that virtually clinched the win.

A turnover by Lebanon on the next play sealed it, and Tenorio and Dillinger put the finishing touches on the victory, which gave Gilas a 1-1 record heading into Sunday’s game against Uzbekistan.

El-Khatib, who skipped last year’s FIBA Asia Championship, played without relief and led Lebanon with 24 points and 15 rebounds, while Thompson had 17 and 11. Tenorio and David bounced back from subpar games against China to finish with 11 each on combined 9-of-14 shooting, while Dillinger and Gabe Norwood had 10 apiece.

The Filipinos still struggled with their outside shooting, hitting only two triples, but their defense in the second half was solid, limiting Lebanon to just 27 points over the last two periods.

After the game, some players and coaches took to Twitter to share tehir thoughts on the game. Dillinger (@JDHawaii20) tweeted: "Wanna give thanks to our fans for the support. You guys make us proud to represent our country. God bless."

"Glory be to God! Bounces back and got a big win against Lebanon. Enjoy for a couple of hours then it's time to focus on our next game," was the tweet of Norwood (@GNorwood5).

Coach Chot Reyes (@coachot) tweeted, "Mga kabayan natin - nakakagana maglaro para sa inyo!" while his son, assistant coach Josh Reyes (@josh_reyes), tweeted: "Great way to bounce back. Still shot the ball horribly but we made better decisions today and broke the zone."

Gilas boxscores:

Douthit 25, David 11, Tenorio 11, Norwood 10, Dillinger 10, De Ocampo 8, Fonacier 3, Thoss 0, Chan 0.