Lebanon outlasts half-healthy RP 5

DUBAI– Smart Gilas Pilipinas lost its semifinal game to defending champion Al Riyadi of Lebanon by a heartbeat, winning the respect and the hearts of everyone here.

Though playing with an all-Filipino crew with some slowed down by injuries, the Nationals fought with great resolve and nearly overcame the odds in a 76-79 loss to the Lebanese late Friday night in the 21st Dubai Invitational here.

Cheered on by throngs of Filipino migrant workers, Smart Gilas pushed Al Riyadi to the edge as it roared to a nine-point lead with less than four minutes left in the contest.

The Filipinos, however, lost touch at crunch time, succumbing to pressure versus the more-experienced, four-time champion Lebanese.

“I think experience came into play in this game. They put the zone and we suddenly couldn’t execute,” said RP’s Serbian coach Rajko Toroman.

CJ Giles, Smart Gilas’ original choice as naturalization candidate, torched the Filipinos with 29 points highlighted by several power jams.

Another Al Riyadi import Shawn Colson, an NBA veteran like Giles, scattered 20 points to help power the Lebanese to the finals versus Mahram of Iran.

The Iranians nipped Al Jalaa of Syria, 95-93, in the other semifinal match.

Mac Baracael and Chris Tiu made 23 and 17 points, respectively, to pace Smart Gilas which was forced to play all-Filipino anew after Jamal Sampson again complained of a sore knee.

Smart Gilas also had to buck the absence of Rabeh Al-Husseini and Aldrech Ramos and injuries to Tiu (left leg), Mark Barroca (back), Dylan Ababou (nose), Jason Ballesteros (left shoulder), JV Casio (contusion) and Japeth Aguilar (recovering from dengue).

“Our problem is lack of ceiling. We don’t have too much inside game, and that’s really a big problem. I think though that Jason (Ballesteros) and Greg (Slaughter) gave their all,” said Toroman.

“Lebanon has two NBA players, lots of Americans, lots of national players, that’s why I told the players not to be disappointed. We have to be proud and I’m proud of them because they showed that for 10 months they would be very competitive in Asia,” Toroman added.

Toroman said they would shoot for a strong third-place finish, looking to avenge a 76-90 loss to Al Jalaa in their previous encounter.

Al Riyadi mentor Fouad Abou Chakra was all praises for Smart Gilas.

“Smart Gilas is one of the best teams in Asia that I’ve ever seen. They have the skills. They are young. They have a great program. They almost beat everybody here,” said Chakra.

“They played with heart. I respect the job done by coach Toroman,” Chakra added.