CHINESE TAIPEI --Bago pa makuha ng Smart Gilas Pilipinas ang kanilang ikatlong panalo laban sa Malaysia ay napatalsik na sa third period si Asi Taulava matapos suntukin ng dalawang beses sa ulo si Yoong Jing Kwaan sa William Jones Cup dito sa Hsinchuang Stadium sa New Taipei City.
Nauna nang napahiga sa sahig si Taulava nang bayagan siya ni Yoon.
“He grabbed my balls, squeezed it then back-punched it,” ani Taulava. “I wouldn’t have reacted that way if he didn’t do it, it was like a punch, its the worst feeling.”
Sa 86-68 paggupo ng Smart Gilas sa Malaysia, hindi pinaglaro ni coach Rajko Toroman sina naturalized Marcus Douthit at pointguard JV Casio bilang paghahanda sa Korea ngayong alas-5 ng hapon.
Umiskor sina Chris Tiu at Mac Baracael ng tig-14 points para sa Nationals, habang may tig-13 sina Japeth Aguilar at Marcio Lassiter at 12 si Chris Lutz.
“It was not so good game for us, we have to play much better, ” sabi ni Toroman. “We tried to rest our point guard (Casio) and our big guy (Douthit) for our game next game against Korea.”
Nakabawi ang Smart Gilas mula sa kanilang 72-76 pagkatalo sa Jordan para sa kanilang 3-1 rekord.
Makakaharap ng Smart Gilas ang Korea ni coach Hur Jae, isang national team standout, at ni local legend Shin Dong Pa bilang rematch matapos noong quarterfinal game sa 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games kung saan nanaig ang Koreans, 74-66. (JoeyVillar)
Smart Gilas Pilipinas 86- Tiu 14, Baracael 14, Aguilar 13, Lassiter 13, Lutz 12, Ababou 6, Barroca 5, Ballesteros 4, Hontiveros 3, Taulava 2
Malaysia 68- Li 15, Yeo 9, Chun 8, Yeow 6, Chuan 5, Tian 5, Ban 4, Batumalai 4, Shee 4, Yoong 4, Eng 2, Zhi 2
Quarterscores: 16-13; 37-34; 64-45; 86-68.