Gilas whip Dragons to grab solo lead in Group A of FIBA Champions Cup

source: gma

Pilipinas-Smart Gilas, a well-traveled team that competed in several major Asian tournaments, has scouted almost every team competing in the FIBA Asia Champions Cup.

Except Westports KL Dragons-Malaysia.

The Malaysians stayed on the thick of the fight for most of the match before the Filipinos flexed their muscles and broke away for a 95-64 win on Sunday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.

Chris Lutz and JV Casio finished with 10 points apiece while Asi Taulava pulled down 12 rebounds to push Gilas to their second win and the solo lead in Group A.

The Nationals outscored the Dragons, 26-9, in the third quarter with Lutz making lay-ups, Casio hitting his long shots and Taulava jostling for possession to get a rebound.

The third quarter splurge came after the Dragons kept the game close in the first half and even led, 40-39, at the half.

“We didn’t know what to expect," said Toroman. “We didn’t know their players and we didn’t know their imports. But we defended well in the third quarter and we took advantage of their turnovers."

KL Dragons import Chris Ayer, who had a monster first half with 15 points, kept the home crowd quiet with a jumper to start the third period, 42-39.

But Gilas countered with 12 unanswered points to take the lead for good. Lutz triggered that run with two straight buckets while Casio fired two long jumpers, including a triple. The crowd finally had something to cheer about when Taulava dove into the advertising boards to save the ball, which led him to score on a post move at the other end for a 51-42 lead.

Despite his team’s loss, Filipino coach Ariel Vanguardia of the Westports KL Dragons expressed his satisfaction with the way the Dragons played.

“It’s a good opportunity to face top class Asian teams," said Vanguardia, a former coach of the Jose Rizal University. “This loss is part of the growing pains for us."

Chris Tiu led the Filipinos with 11 points while Mark Barroca, Mac Baracael and Dondon Hontiveros contributed 10 points each.

Douthit only had nine points as he was saddled with three fouls in the first half.

Ayer led all scorers with 31 points while Marcus Morrison, who was booed by the crowd for most part of the game, had 15 points.

source: gma