Gilas succumbs to Qatar, finishes fourth

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Gilas Pilipinas blew what could have been an easy win as it dropped another heartbreaker, 75-80, to Qatar, yesterday but still wound up at fourth place in the FIBA-Asia Stankovic Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.

Just a day after a pulsating 80-81 semifinal loss to Lebanon, the Filipinos led in the first three quarters but lost steam in the fourth period to settle for No. 4.

Still, the team felt it was a good finish considering they played without some of their key players, including naturalization candidate Marcus Douthit and seven-foot Greg Slaughter.

“Even if we finished fourth, I am satisfied,” said Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, scheduled to fly back to the country today along with the rest of the Nationals.

“We lost two matches to Lebanon and Qatar in games we were so close to winning.

“Lebanon has the strongest team ever and despite all the advantages they have, they beat us by only one point. Everybody here is impressed with our team,” he added.

The host Lebanese emerged the best in this tournament after they overpowered the hapless Japanese, 97-59, in the finale.

Mac Baracael paced RP with 21 points while Marco Lassiter, skipper Chris Tiu and Japeth Aguilar added 16, 13 and 10, respectively.

The semifinal finish was reminiscent of last January’s import-laden Dubai Invitational meet, where RP ended up a strong third despite practically playing All-Filipino.

Fil-Tongan Asi Taulava, who came to the Lebanese capital to fill the plug left by Douthit, Slaughter and 6-7 Rabeh Al-Hussaini, capped his solid effort as he made up for a scoreless stint with an 11-rebound performance.

Smart Gilas earlier shocked defending champion and World Championship-bound Jordan, 75-71, in the elimination round and beat Iran for the first time in four matches, 79-67, in the quarters.

With Taulava making an impact on the team, Toroman appealed for the PBA to loan more pros to the team.

“We need at least two more PBA players to be really competitive,” he said.

Smart Gilas is gearing up for the Guangzhou Asian Games this November as well as the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championship also set in Beirut where a spot in the 2012 London Olympics is at stake.