Phl 4th; won game goes down the drain

WUHAN – The Philippines just couldn’t break its jinx against Korea in Asian basketball.

At the great shooting hands of the Koreans came the sad ending of Smart Gilas Pilipinas’ quest for a return stint in the Olympics.

Playing on borrowed time with Korean ace gunner Yang Donggeun sidelined by an injury, Cho Sungmin delivered and carried the Koreans to a come-from-behind 70-68 shocker over the Filipinos in their fight for third place in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship here last night.   

Sungmin fired away all of his 20 points in the last 12 minutes of play, including a triple and three charities in the final 1:28 as he personally dashed Smart Gilas’ hopes to play in the FIBA World Olympic qualifier in July next year.

The Nationals reeled from Sungmin’s endgame explosion, losing an 11-point lead, 54-43, in the last eight minutes, and failed to salvage the game with five missed free throws in the final 38 seconds.

“We were better in the first 39 minutes then we collapsed in the final minute,” rued a dejected Smart Gilas coach Rajko Toroman.

They made their shots and we missed ours at endgame. Everything was a disaster for us at the finish,” Toroman added.

The Nationals had several chances to preserve their sterling efforts early on, but just couldn’t convert the shots that counted the most.

They eventually yielded with Jayvee Casio’s heave from afar at the buzzer not even touching the rim.

It was another bitter defeat for the Filipinos against the Koreans – the same team that stole a won-game for the Philippines in a semifinal match in the Busan Asian Games in 2002.

It was also the case in their last meeting (battle for seventh) in FIBA Asia in Tianjin in 2009.

The Philippines hasn’t beaten Korea for decades now.

“We’re right there. We’re close to getting to the world Olympic qualifier but, unfortunately, failed to complete the job,” said Toroman.

Almost everyone was in tears in the dugout after the game, heartbroken with the near miss.

It’s their last game together with everyone, except Marcus Lassiter, joining their PBA ball clubs upon their return to Manila.

Douthit came through with 27 points and 22 rebounds but couldn’t control his last possession of the ball, losing it to Cho who then went to the stripe on a foul by Casio with 6.3 seconds and the Koreans up 69-68.

Douthit had his last possession as he pulled down the rebounds after Marcio Lassiter missed a game-tying charity.

The long final minute became a free throw contest, and the Koreans proved steadier.

Two misses by Kelly Williams and two conversions by Cho had the Koreans moving up by three at 69-66.

Still, the Nationals found an opportunity to win in a gripping moment that saw Douthit miss a free throw, Lassiter grab the loose ball then split from the line, and Douthit snare the rebound.

The ball didn’t take long in Douthit’s hands, though, as Cho grabbed it.

Douthit losing the ball to Cho stretched the Philippines’ spate of bad lucks versus the Koreans.

Jimmy Alapag came back from a bad performance Saturday, going 5-of-7 from the three-point area to help Smart Gilas dominate the first 35 minutes of the game.

The Nationals were five minutes away from taking the bronze medal. In the end, cheers turned to tears.

NOTES: The draw for the FIBA Asia U16 Championship was held here yesterday morning with the Philippines finding some luck with a sure passage into the second round. Coach Olsen Racela’s Phl boys play host Vietnam and Indonesia in Group D in the first round then advance into the second round versus the top three from among Iran, Syria, Qatar and Japan. The 15-team field for the Nha Trang, Vietnam meet set Oct. 18-28 was divided into four with four teams each composing Groups A, B and C and three making Group D. The best three from each group advance to the second round.

 The scores:

Korea 70 – Cho 20, Lim 14, Oh 9, Kang 8, Moon 8, Kim 7, Lee 2, Kim YH 1, Park 0.

Philippines 68 – Douthit 27, Alapag 17, Williams 9, Lutz 5, De Ocampo 3, Casio 2, Tiu 2, Baracael 2, Lassiter 1, Taulava 0.

Quarterscores: 7-14, 17-24, 36-47, 70-68