GILAS PILIPINAS SCRAPES PAST JORDAN, TOPS GROUP

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Paul Lee and Ranidel de Ocampo combined for a remarkable 7-of-11 three-point shooting but Gilas Pilipinas still walked the tightrope before nipping Jordan, 71-70, to top Group B in the preliminary round of the fifth FIBA Asia Cup at the Wuhan Sports Centre in Wuhan, China Tuesday.

Lee and De Ocampo hit the game’s biggest baskets, including the latter’s fourth and last trey giving the Nationals a 71-68 lead with 35.2 ticks left.

But after Rasheim Wright canned two charities to make it a one-possession contest, LA Tenorio missed a shot from close range in the ensuing play, in the process, opening an opportunity for the Jordanians to steal the game with six seconds to go.

Jordan ran a quick transition play only for Ahmad Alharmasheh to pull back a three-on-two attack, opting to kick the ball out to guard Wesam Al-Sous who missed a three-point try from the left flank at the buzzer.

The Filipinos thus escaped with the cliffhanger and gained top honors in Group B play with a perfect 3-0 win-loss slate, ahead of Chinese Taipei (2-1), Jordan (1-2) and Singapore (0-3).

The tournament takes a break Wednesday before shifting to its knockout stage, starting with the quarterfinals Thursday pitting Gilas Pilipinas against India, Chinese Taipei opposite Japan, Jordan versus Iran and Singapore against China.

The Nationals blew an early 11-point lead and went through the wringer before surviving the Jordanians under new coach Rajko Toroman.

Largely behind the efforts of their big men, Jordan, the Asia Cup champ in 2008 in Kuwait, seized control in the third quarter and stayed in the lead at 60-57 entering the last five minutes of the game.

But Rain or Shine boys Lee and Beau Belga came through with clutch plays to push Gilas ahead, 62-60, before De Ocampo later took over, draining a big trey that shattered a 68-all deadlock in the last 35 seconds.

The Jordanians, however, just won’t fade away easily.

Wright drew a foul from Jared Dillinger and tossed in the two charities as Jordan came to within one at 70-71 with 30.9 ticks to go.

Then came Tenorio’s miss with much time left for Jordan to steal the game.

The Filipinos heaved a sigh as Al-Sous, among the feared gunners in the region, misfired a potential game-winning trey.

For the third straight game, Lee topscored for the Filipinos with 16 points with De Ocampo adding 14 on top of six rebounds and two assists against one turnover.

Dillinger, Belga, and Marcus Douthit put in significant help as the Nationals survived their biggest challenge so far in this tourney.

Dillinger held Wright to 11 points while making nine of his own, Douthit collected 13 points and nine rebounds, and Belga played quality minutes in the final half, coming through with eight points, three rebounds and one steal.

In the other games at the close of the preliminary round, titleholder Iran drubbed India, 62-49, while Japan clobbered Indonesia, 96-59. (SB)

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