ALLAN THE MAN

Philippines, represented in FIBA Asia Cup 2012 by Smart Gilas, suffered defeat Friday, September 14, from the hands of a tall but inexperienced team from China.

The Filipino squad wasn’t able to hold on to an eight-point lead they built off a strong second-half, missed 10 of 24 free throws and seven straight three-point shots going to the final minutes of the game.

SCORES PER QUARTER: 18-15, 40-33, 54-56, 71-68

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas fell just short against a taller China squad, 71-68, in their opening match in the 4th FIBA Asia Cup Friday in Tokyo, Japan.

China, playing with a young team with an average age of just 20, grabbed a lead early after hounding the Philippines to bad three-point shooting and taking advantage of foul trouble on SMART-Gilas center Marcus Douthit.

But SMART-Gilas cut loose after the break, turning a 40-33 halftime deficit into a 56-54 advantage in the third quarter.

Here's Smart-Gilas Pilipinas LIVE Game Schedules:

After their victorious campaign in the William Jones Cup 2012 held in Taiwan, the Smart-Gilas Pilipinas will play in the upcoming FIBA Asia Cup 2012 (former Stankovic Cup) Preliminary Round to be held on September 14-22, 2012 at the Ota Gymnasium, Tokyo, Japan.

Below are the Gilas’ game schedule in 2012 FIBA Asia Cup Preliminary Rounds:

September 14 at 4:30pm – Philippines vs China

September 15 at 7:00 pm – Philippines vs Lebanon

September 16 at 2:00 pm – Philippines vs Uzbekistan

September 17 at 11:30am – Philippines vs Macau

SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national coach Chot Reyes has named his lineup for the 2012 FIBA Asia Cup slated in Tokyo, Japan.

Ginebra San Miguel’s LA Tenorio, who won Most Valuable Player honors in SMART-Gilas’ title run in the 34th William Jones Cup, leads the lineup along with holdovers Gabe Norwood and Jeff Chan of Rain or Shine, Gary David of GlobalPort, Larry Fonacier and Ranidel De Ocampo of Talk ‘N Text, Enrico Villanueva of Barako Bull, Jay-R Reyes of Meralco, Sonny Thoss of Alaska, Filipino-American Matthew Rosser and naturalized center Marcus Douthit. Talk ‘N Text forward Jared Dillinger will be the only new addition to the team, with Meralco guard Sol Mercado being rendered ineligible because of FIBA Asia rules concerning foreign-born citizens.

Marc Pingris will not be part of the SMART-Gilas Pilipinas lineup for the FIBA Asia Cup 2012 this September, coach Chot Reyes said on Thursday.

Reyes told InterAKTV in a telephone interview that the San Mig Coffee forward is still on vacation and recuperating from a neck injury suffered during the Governors’ Cup finals.

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.

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team banked on a late rally to defeat Japan, 88-84, and remain unbeaten in the 34th William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

Japan led the Philippines by 13 points at the start of the fourth period, but the Filipinos opened the quarter with an 8-2 run then rode a huge 16-4 run capped by a three-pointer from Gabe Norwood to take the lead, before holding off the Japanese with steady shooting from the free throw line.

Naturalized center Marcus Douthit paced the Filipinos with 26 points while LA Tenorio added 13 points, including three triples. Norwood added 11 points.

The Philippines moved up to 4-0, drawing themselves into a tie with Iran, which earlier defeated the US team in double overtime.

The Philippines will play Lebanon next before wrapping up their campaign with three tough assignments in Iran, hosts Chinese Taipei A and USA.