ALLAN THE MAN

Against an American team with superior size advantage, it was the smallest man on the Philippine side who stood tallest.

LA Tenorio delivered the biggest buckets in the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team’s 76-75 victory over USA to bring home the William Jones Cup to the Philippines for the first time since 1998.

The Alaska point guard scored 20 points, including the go-ahead basket with 17 seconds to go to lift SMART-Gilas to the win.

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.