Game 6 PHI / TPE – Philippines edge Taipei in second Overtime

TEHRAN (FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Junior Men): Last edition’s semifinalists Chinese Taipei and former champions Philippines waged a protracted battle before the latter emerged victorious 106-105, in the second Overtime in a Group C encounter here on Thursday.

Philippines went ahead 28-16 at the end of the first quarter, but that was the only time in the entire game did any team manage to hold a sizable lead.

Taipei fought back gallantly to outscore Philippines in all the three remaining quarters. The East Asian nation, who had finished fourth at Urumqi two year ago, went into the lead for the first time in the game (78-76) only with 3:15 left in the game.

The battle of nerves continued as both sides fumbled in the final moments to seal the issue in regulation.

After the first five minutes of extended time failed to break the dead-lock, Taipei raced ahead 104-98 riding on Lee Ming-Hui’s back-to-back baskets.

But Philippines fought back to regain the lead when Gabriel Banal converted both his free-throws.

“I think both of us (teams) lost chances to close the game in regulation,” said Philippines coach Franz Pumaren.

“It was a test of character for the boys. I’m happy they held together rather well,” he added.

Philippines went into the first Overtime with four players ejected due to personal fouls and were even worse off at the start of the second extension with six forced to sit out.

“I’m proud of the way my bench rose to the occasion,” Pumaren said.

“I must also give credit to the Taipei team for the way they came back,” he added.

“I’m proud of my boys for the way they fought back,” said Taipei coach Yang I-Feng.

“I hope the boys take the lessons from this game into the next matches in the tournament,” said Chung Kwang-Suk, the head coach of the Taipei Senior men’s team, but in Tehran as the General Manager of the U18 squad.

Scores
Philippines 106 (Ryan Garcia 18, Jaypee Mendoza 15, Ian Sangalang 14, Matthew Wright 12, Samuel Marata 12) bt Chinese Taipei 105 (Lin Li-Jen 14, Lee Ming-Hui 13, Lai Kuo-Wei 12). Quarterwise Scores: 28-16, 45-34, 66-60, 88-88, 96-96.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

LIB / PHI – Ibrahim’s defiance clinches the issue for Lebanon

TEHRAN (FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Junior Men): This is one defiance Lebanon coach Rizkallah Zaloum won’t certainly complain about, as his side staged a superb fourth quarter surge to beat Philippines 87-84 in a Group C preliminary round game on Thursday.

Ahmad Ibrahim played all of the forty minutes of the game and even scored six times from behind the arc.

But the most important strike came with less than four seconds left in the game.

Much against his coach’s instructions – which were to drive in the lane – Ibrahim opted to take an attempt from behind the arc. And fortunately for him, and to the glee of his bench, that attempt found success.

Lebanon, bronze medalists at the last edition at Urumqi, thus emerged victorious and are almost assured of a place in the top rung of the Quarterfinal round.

“They (Philippines) were under foul penalty. So I instructed my players to go into the paint. I knew they wouldn’t touch us because of the free-throws,” Zaloum said.

“Everything in the play went according to plan, only that he (Ibrahim) chose to shoot from outside instead of driving in,” he added.

“Sometimes not listening to the coach helps,” he chuckled.

Ibrahim had earlier shouldered the burden of his side’s scoring in the first quarter scoring 13 points, as Lebanon strove to keep pace with Philippines.

Philippines, who had won after allowing Chinese Taipei to bounce back before winning in second Overtime on Wednesday seemed to have learnt their lessons.

The former six-time champions kept a small, but steady, lead throughout till the start of the fourth quarter.

Trailing 61-66, at the start of the fourth quarter, Lebanon ran a 13-3 spree that brought back the confidence in their trait.

Neither managed anything more than a two-point lead after that and at 84-84, with about twenty seconds left, Philippines’ Mathew Wright in his anxiety to score, committed a charge.

Lebanon played the ball into Ibrahim, who swerved on top the arc before unleashing the match winner.

Maikal El Nar led the scoring for Lebanon with a game-high 32 points.

Ryan Garcia topped the scoring for Philippines with 28 points.

Scores

Lebanon 87 (Mikael El Nar 32, Ahmad Ibrahim 24) bt Philippines 84 (Ryan Garcia 28). Quarterwise Scores: 21-22, 49-45, 61-66.

S Mageshwaran
FIBA Asia

PHI / UAE – Philippines back to winning ways

TEHRAN (FIBA Asia U18 Championship for Men): Formr champions Philippines bounced back from a heart-breaking loss in the previous game to beat United Arab Emirates 73-54.

The win put Philippines into the top rung of the Quarterfinal round, after a gap of 10 years.

Philippines are grouped with Japan, Korea and Iran in Group II of the Quarterfinal round.

UAE will be play in Group IV of the Quarterfinal round for minor placings, along side Hong Kong, Jordan and Malaysia.

Scores

Philippines 73 (Samuel Marata 16, Norberto Torres 12) bt UAE 54 (Salah Abdulla Khalifa 23, Mohamed Abdalla Saeed 11). Quarterwise Scores: 22-10, 41-24, 58-32.

FIBA Asia

nice ah... at least sa 18-Under ga bato' ang Phils..... na pirde pero close fight...

nag sacrifice guid gle si Franz Pumaren diri, bayaan nya ang La Salle in the middle of the UAAP season to coach the U18 team... :worthy: