Unbeaten RP Nokia shackles Syria five

MANILA, Philippines - Nokia U-16 Team Pilipinas went to its defense down the stretch to trounce Syria, 71-57, and remain unbeaten in the Fiba U-16 Men’s Championship at the Bandaraya Stadium in Johor Bahru, Malaysia last Sunday.

Jeron Teng and the rest of the squad stepped up as skipper Kiefer Ravena struggled as the Filipinos also bucked spotty officiating to stay in the hunt in the tournament which stakes two tickets to the 2010 Fiba U-17 World Championship in Hamburg, Germany.

Team Pilipinas is playing Iran at presstime while China is tackling Korea in a four-way battle of undefeated teams.

Semifinals start on Thursday following a one-day break tomorrow.

A third-year high school student at Xavier, Teng delivered 16 points and seven rebounds while San Beda standout Dan Sara nailed 14 points, including a triple in the final 2:47 that highlighted the Filipinos’ decisive 23-4 endgame run.

Ravena, who averaged 24 points in his first two games, had only 11 points while big man Kevin Ferrer poured in 10 points and grabbed five rebounds.

“I credit the boys, everybody stepped up, everybody played good defense, and everybody wanted to win,” Team Pilipinas coach Eric Altamirano said. “We’re almost getting there. We just have to work harder and never doubt ourselves. It’s still a long way to go.”

The Filipinos actually had a long, difficult night getting the breaks from referees Yunes Mohammed Yusuf Jahani of Bahrain and Salem Alhaza’a of Kuwait, prompting team officials to question the selection of the game officials since Team Pilipinas is bunched with three Middle East countries – Syria, Jordan and Iran, in the quarterfinals.

Although the Syrians and the Filipinos committed almost the same number of fouls, 23-22, and turnovers, 27-24, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) competitions committee chairman Bernie Atienza still vowed to call the attention of the Fiba Asia technical committee.