RP dribblers smother Indians

TAIPEI — RP-San Miguel Beer cruised to its fourth win in a row in the 27th R. William Jones Cup International basketball tournament, whipping India, 107-69, Tuesday at the Taipei Physical Education College gym here.

The victory came on the heels of Team Philippines’ tough 79-75 win over South Korea Monday with the Filipinos facing Australia at 4 p.m. today at resumption of action in the annual tournament.

But RP-SMB is likely to play without Brandon Cablay, who limped off the court early in the second period after bruising his knee.

Willie Miller was the first casualty in the RP team roster when he injured his right foot in a game against Kazakhstan last Sunday.

Two reinforcements, however, are due as PBL and UAAP standouts Dennis Miranda and Jondan Salvador are to arrive today in time for the game against the Aussies.

Joining SMB-Philippines at the helm with 4-0 slates are USA-Passing Lane Sports and Russia-Samara.

"I admitted I made a mistake by telling the guys India will be a light opponent," said national coach Chot Reyes, who used only eight men for most of the game. "We came out quite flat and India took advantage. Any team in this tournament is capable of beating any team on a given night."

"It’s good we realized that in the second half and got our game going," he added.

The 38-point victory over India, however, failed to reflect the shaky stint of RP-SMB in the first half.

With Shanmugam Sridhar on the firing end, India seized control early with a 22-14 lead before settling for a 24-19 advantage after 10 minutes of play.

Jay-jay Helterbrand then tore the Indians’ defense, repeatedly slashing the lane as the Filipinos took charge at the onset of the second quarter. A twinner by the Barangay Ginebra spitfire at 8:45 in the second quarter finally gave RP-SMB the lead at 25-24.

Asi Taulava, who muscled his way to a 29-point output, also imposed his power and strength underneath against his much lighter rivals.

Still, the Indians refused to give up, hitting from the perimeter and getting to within 41-43 early in the third period.

But that proved to be closest that the Indians could get as the fired-up Filipinos pounded the ball down low with Taulava, Romel Adducul and Tony de la Cruz taking turns puncturing the hoop. A 15-0 run late in the period transformed a 57-48 lead to a 72-48 bubble.

The Filipinos coasted to the victory in the fourth quarter, holding India to a single field goal in the last four minutes of play.

Taulava and Adducul scored all of RP-SMB’s 15 points to set the final margin.