ALLAN THE MAN

FIBA Asia Championship 2013. The Philippine national men’s basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas,  flirted with disaster in the first three quarters before cleaning up its act in the final period to defeat Hong Kong, 67-55, on Wednesday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

The victory formally gave Gilas Pilipinas the top spot in Group E, but not before a poor start that had coach Chot Reyes fuming at the sidelines.

“Terrible” was how Reyes described his team’s play. “I thought we had a very poor game tonight,” he said.

The winless Hong Kong team scored the first seven points of the game and opened up double-digit spreads at a couple of junctures in the first half, the last at 29-19 on a three-pointer by Chan Siu Wing with 2:33 left in the second quarter.

Gilas still trailed at the half, 33-28, when Jeff Chan sparked the team, scoring six points in an 8-1 run to give the Philippines its first taste of the lead.

Hong Kong had its last taste of the lead, 39-38, with 1:53 left in the third quarter on a putback by Duncan Reid. LA Tenorio broke down the Hong Kong defense to score two straight three-point plays and a three-pointer in an 11-4 run to bridge the third and fourth periods, giving Gilas a 49-43 advantage.

The visitors strung together five straight points to threaten at 49-48 with 7:52 left, and stayed within striking distance until the four-minute mark of the fourth period.

With the Philippines up by just four points, Gabe Norwood hit a jumper, stole the ball, and scored a three-point play, before Jayson Castro hit a fastbreak layup to give Gilas its first double-digit spread, 65-54, with 1:48 remaining.

“I really thought we could have played a lot better tonight,” said Reyes. “There’s no such thing as a sure win.”

The Filipinos shot miserably from the field, making just 38 percent of their field goals and 21 percent of their three-point shots. Against inferior competition, the hustle was also lacking for Gilas, as they gave up 14 offensive rebounds to the smaller Hong Kong players.

Despite the lethargic effort, the Philippines secured first place in its group by having a better tiebreaker after finishing with the same record as Chinese Taipei and Qatar. The team moves into a knockout duel against Kazakhstan on Friday.

Philippines 67 - Douthit 13, Chan 12, Norwood 11, William 11, Tenorio 9, Pingris 6, Fonacier 2, De Ocampo 2, Alapag 1, Aguilar 0, David 0, Fajardo 0.

Hong Kong 55 - S.Chan 16, Reid 12, Li 6, Wong 6, Lam 6, Fong 4, Lau 3, Y.Chan 2, Lee 0. 

Quarters: 13-19, 28-33, 44-39, 67-55

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