ALLAN THE MAN

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team put itself in position to clinch the title with a win in its last assignment, taking care of business against home team Zhonghua of Chinese Taipei, 76-72, in the 34th William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

With fellow tournament leaders Iran and USA both losing their matches on the penultimate day of the competition, the Philippines moved up to solo first place at 6-1. Iran, USA and Korea are in a three-way tie in second with 5-2 marks.

SMART-Gilas took an eight-point lead, 37-29, to halftime, but watched as the hosts rallied behind big man Tseng Wen Ting and some hot outside shooting in the third quarter. Chinese Taipei had a big 13-point turnaround to lead by five, 56-51, before Larry Fonacier hit a three-pointer that got the Filipinos within two entering the final period.

The Philippines opened the fourth with a 15-4 blast, including three triples from point guard LA Tenorio, as they took a 69-60 lead with 5:44 to play.

But the Taiwanese had one more rally in them, scoring eight unanswered points to cut the Filipinos’ lead down to one, 69-68.

But Ranidel De Ocampo and Tenorio hit back-to-back buckets to make it 73-68. Zhonghua got a pair of free throws to fall, then forced a turnover to gain possession back with 59.9 seconds to play.

The Taiwanese failed to score, though, and Gary David all but put the game away with a three-pointer that gave the Filipinos a 76-70 lead with just 40.6 seconds on the clock. Chinese Taipei had two more free throws to make it 76-72 with six seconds left and the Philippines escaped with the victory.

SMART-Gilas faces the US team today in a game that will decide the title. A win will assure the Philippines of its first Jones Cup title since 1998 while a loss would drop it down to a tie with the Americans, and possibly with Iran and South Korea, depending on the results of their matches.

WATCH PHILIPPINES vs CHINESE TAIPEI A FULL VIDEO REPLAY BELOW:

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