RP 5 storms past China in big rally

TOKUSHIMA, Japan – The Philippines’ Olympic quest lived on last night as the Nationals, on sheer fighting heart, beat the Chinese quintet for the first time in 22 years.

With their Beijing mission looking headed for a Tokushima disaster, the Nationals fought with tremendous grit and guts, hacking out a stirring 79-74 come-from-behind victory over the Chinese to stay in contention for the FIBA-Asian championship quarterfinal round.

Egged on by a Filipino cheering crowd at Asty Tokushima, the Nationals gallantly fought back from a 13-point deficit in the third quarter and beat out the Chinese at the finish, thus keeping their hopes for a return stint in the Olympics after a wait of over three decades.

The Nationals fashioned out the epic victory over the Chinese with Danny Seigle out on injury and Asi Taulava playing on one healthy foot.

With the odds stacked against them, Jimmy Alapag, Mark Caguioa, Kerby Raymundo and Kelly Williams rose to the occasion and bailed the Nationals out. The four combined for all but 15 of the team’s total output.

“It was all about playing 40 minutes of pure heart,” said RP team coach Chot Reyes as they survived what could have been outright relegation to the consolation round.

“I challenged the boys to play tonight the way we played the last six minutes of our game against Iran. Obviously, they responded,” Reyes added.

Alapag, the goat in the RP team’s close defeat versus the same Chinese team in the recent Manila Invitationals, stood tall last night as he scored a game-high 25 points that went with five rebounds and three assists in 27 minutes of action.

Caguioa added 16 points, including a barreling drive with time down to eight seconds,, giving the Philippines a 77-74 cushion.

Williams had a solid all-around game which he capped with a steal on a lob pass by Ke Li to Chen Chen with 3.6 seconds to go as the Nationals all but sealed the country’s first win over China since the Ron Jacobs-mentored RP 5 beat the Chinese for the 1985 ABC championship.

“It’s a matter of honor and respect for the Philippines, not particularly in beating China, but performing well in Asia. We’re driven by quest for respect,” said Reyes.

“We might be giving few inches and pounds, being the smallest in our group, but I think our heart is second to none. We’re a team that never loses hope, and we intend to show another example of that tomorrow (Monday) against Jordan,” Reyes also said.

As in their game against Iran, the Nationals were off to a jittery start and trailed by double-digit deficits right in the opening quarter.

They used trapping defense to get into the game, coming within three at 27-30 on a five-point binge by Caguioa.

Settling down, the Chinese, however, came through with another key run to get their biggest lead at 41-27.

Earlier in the day, host Japan, Qatar and Kazakhstan each scored a second straight win to gain entry into the quarterfinals.

Japan upended Lebanon, 77-67, to gain solo lead in Group B while Qatar repulsed Indonesia, 86-45, and Kazakhstan trounced India, 97-74, as they held sway in Group C.

Unied Arab Emirates rebounded from a loss to Japan Saturday with a 69-68 squeaker over Kuwait to stay in the fight for the quarters in Group B.