The Nationals weathered a barrage of three-pointers from erstwhile unbeaten Koreans and neutralized import Wesley Wilson, out on fouls in the third period, to notch their third straight win and tied their victims at second spot with 3-1 win-loss card.
Jayjay Helterbrand, rebounding from listless stints the first three games, finished with 15 points and eight assists while Tony dela Cruz, who turned 27 last night, also contributed 15 markers for RP-SMB which posted the win before a predominantly Filipino crowd here.
The team faces the Alaska Aces Thursday night to end its elimination round campaign in the four-nation six-team cagefest.
"I thought we were lucky because Wesley Wilson fouled out although that was really our game plan. We really wanted to attack him and force him into foul trouble," said RP mentor Chot Reyes.
"We were successful on that part but SK Knights is a fast team. It’s so hard for us to stop a team like Korea where everybody can shoot a three-pointer," he added. The 6’9 Wilson, who suited up for Shell Turbo Chargers in the PBA in the last Reinforced Conference, fouled out at 7:45 mark of the third period for pushing Dondon Hontiveros in a rebound play.
He still finished with 23 points, all in the first two quarters, and together with the seven triples of SK Knights in the first half, five came from Cho Sang Hyun, the Koreans built a commanding 50-34 lead.
At that time, Wilson already had four fouls after the break and received the final foul early in the third period and in frustration, slammed the ball on the floor resulting to a bench technical although Renren Ritualo muffed the two charities.
The Nationals, who dropped their first game to Toshiba Brave Thunders of Japan, 80-89, seized that opportunity and attacked the lane in every possession to mount the comeback.
They even led at 68-67 on Jimmy Alapag’s three-pointer before Cho beat the buzzer of the third quarter with another triple to hang on for a 70-68 advantage entering the final canto.
But the Koreans, who came in to the game unbeaten, still held a slim 86-82 lead with just 4:30 left in the game.
Asi Taulava, who finished with 14 points and 13 rebounds, then completed a three-point play off a Hwang Jin Won foul in the ensuing play, Ritualo drilled a three-pointer, Alapag followed it up with its own three-point play and Dela Cruz split his charities, giving the Nationals the 92-86 lead and the control of the game.
Cho, who top scored the SK Knights with 34 points highlighted by 9-of-14 shooting behind the arc, hoisted another trey to keep the South Koreans in the game, 89-92, 1:36 left.