ALLAN THE MAN

Naturalized center Marcus Douthit showed exactly why he’s such an important member of the SMART-Gilas national team as he dominated on the floor to help the Philippines defeat Lebanon, 78-68, in their Group A clash in the 4th FIBA Asia Cup in Tokyo, Japan.

Douthit posted 25 points, 21 rebounds and one crucial block on longtime Lebanon star Fadi El-Khatib with under a minute to play as SMART-Gilas notched its first win of the tournament.

Gilas trailed Lebanon after a very tight first half that saw neither team lead by more than five points. Behind El-Khatib, who had 15 points and six rebounds in the first two periods, and their own naturalized player Garnett Thompson, who had 13 and seven, the Lebanese held a slim three-point edge, 41-38, at the halftime break.

But Douthit turned things around in the third period, crashing the offensive glass to score eight of his 10 points in the quarter off of second chance putbacks. His last two points, a pair of free throws with 23 seconds remaining in the third, gave Gilas a 59-53 lead, the largest for either team at that point.

The center had 16 points and 16 rebounds through the first three quarters.

But Lebanon issued a stiff challenge in the fourth, scoring six of the first eight points to come to within two, 61-59, off an El-Khatib triple early in the quarter. Ranidel De Ocampo scored for the Filipinos but Thompson responded with two of his own as the Lebanese looked determined to stick around.

But it was Douthit again that carried Gilas, scoring seven unanswered points and grabbing two defensive rebounds as the Filipinos opened up a 70-61 lead with just 3:29 to play.

Lebanon, though, wasn’t done yet with Rodrigue Akl and Jean Abdenour bringing them to within four yet again. Gary David scored for the Filipinos but El-Khatib found the net on the other end to make it 72-68 with just 1:09 remaining.

After a big defensive stop for Lebanon, it was El-Khatib again with a chance to cut the deficit down even further. But Douthit came up big once more for the Philippines, blocking the shot attempt and securing the ball for the Filipinos with 25 seconds left.

David hit again to push the lead up to six, 74-68, before LA Tenorio added a pair of free throws and Jared Dillinger sealed the win with a basket in the dying seconds as the Philippines grabbed their first win in the tournament.

David and Tenorio finished with 11 points apiece while Gabe Norwood and Dillinger each had 10 for SMART-Gilas.

The Filipinos outscored their counterparts 34-18 in the paint and 10-2 in second chance points.

El-Khatib led Lebanon with 24 points and 15 rebounds while Thompson finished with 17 and 11.

With the win, the Philippines tied their victims at 1-1 in Group A of the tournament. China and Uzbekistan lead the group with 1-0 marks while Macau brings up the rear at 0-2.

The scores:

SMART-Gilas Pilipinas (78) – Douthit 25, David 11, Tenorio 11, Dillinger 10, Norwood 10, De Ocampo 8, Fonacier 3, Chan 0, Thoss 0.

Lebanon (68) – F. El Khatib 24, Thompson 17, Akl 10, Abdelnour 8, C. El-Khatib 4, Sarkis 3, Stephan 2, Rustom 0, Tabet 0.

Quarterscores: 19-20, 38-41, 59-53, 78-68.

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