Smart Gilas five storms past Koreans

JAKARTA – Smart Gilas Pilipinas rode on a big third quarter run to demolish Sangmoo of Korea, 90-76, last night and make good impression in the 20th FIBA-Asia Champions Cup at the Britama Arena here.

The Filipinos blitzed the sweet-shooting Koreans with a fiery 14-5 run in the pivotal third, turning a shaky 55-53 lead into a 69-58 advantage. They kept the momentum into the fourth to complete the rout in a victory that augured well for the national team’s campaign.

Mark Barroca shot 20 points and had five steals in a sterling performance while CJ Giles made a double-double job of 19 points and 12 rebounds plus two shot blocks.

“We actually struggled in the first half, maybe the players were pressured playing their first game here,” said Smart Gilas’ Serbian coach Rajko Toroman. “But we came out aggressive in the third quarter even though Korea hit us with some three-point shots.”

The win is expected to boost Smart Gilas’ confidence going into today’s 3 p.m. (RP time) showdown with defending champion Mahram Iran.

The Iranians, who drew a first round bye, will be parading former Atlanta Hawk 7-4 Priest Lauderdale and former NBA player Brett Jackson.

“It’s a big win for us, it would help us going into our game against Iran, which I think is the toughest team here,” said Toroman, who steered the Iran national team to the 2007 FIBA-Asia Championship title in Tokushima, Japan and the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Team RP led by seven points in the third quarter twice, the last at 53-46, midway in the period. But Koreans started to hit their mark from behind the arc, making five of their 13 triples to threaten at 53-55.

But the Filipinos countered with a 14-5 binge to hold off the Koreans and raced to as many as 20 points in the fourth highlighted by nifty passes and jams by Giles.

Earlier, Al Riyadi of Lebanon turned back a tough Qadsia of Kuwait, 87-78, to likewise open its title campaign on a bright note.

Import Nate Johnson, who played for the San Miguel team that won a PBA conference five years ago, finished with 28 points and seven rebounds while US-educated Fadhi El-Khatib and Canadian-born Ali Mahmoud scattered 20 and 16 points, respectively, for Al Riyadi.

Mac Baracael chipped in 14 points while skipper Chris Tiu and JV Casio, rivals during their UAAP days, added 11 apiece for Smart Gilas.