Smart Gilas Pilipinas final push for a breakthrough was indeed startling as they hack out an impressive 107-98 victory over their early tormentor Al Jalaa of Syria to finish their Middle East caging campaign in the 21st Dubai International Tournament joust with fireworks and jubilation. The Filipinos wound up third and they just won for themselves a bronze medal in a very tough field. This is indeed fitting for a country longing for a worldwide recognition that is long overdue. The win catapulted the Philippines in the Asian basketball again before throngs of Filipino workers who witnessed the game with gusto.
Marnel Baracael collected 26 points while Mark Barroca chipped in 18 of his 21 points in the last quarter for the Philippines quintet. The Filipinos made a remarkable 18 straight freethrows in the crucial minutes of the game then posted an impressive 40 points in the fourth quarter, to subdue their Middle East counterparts. Mark Barrocca’s ferocious plays truly guided the RP Smart Gilas in dismantling the Al Jalaa of Syria, black and blue as they avenged their early loss by handing the Syrian a resounding beating in their bronze medal match. Barroca converted a trey beyond the rainbow arc that allowed the importless Filipino squad take control of the game in the last two minutes. The desperate Syrians used hacking tactics to virtually stop the clock in their favor, but the Filipinos with nerves of steel made 18 free throws to foil any chance the Syrians have in the game.
“We’re disappointed after the loss (in their semifinals match with Al-Riyadi). But we recovered pretty well and showed mental toughness in the end,” RP coach Rajko Toroman said.
Freethrows by Japeth Aguilar and Chris Tiu finally gave the Filipinos the lead, 78-76. Barroca then unleashed a lethal trey and Baracael converted his freethrows in the charity stripe to send the their opponents in fouling the Filipinos, after leading by six at 89-83.
Iran’s Mahram subdued Al Riyadi of Lebanon, 85-67, to bag the much-coveted crown in the finals match of the tournament. Samad Bahrami bagged the MVP plum whilst Smart Gilas’ JV Casio captured guard award and former Smart Gilas import CJ Giles of Al Riyadi was heralded as the best center.
Serbian coach said “This tournament allowed us to earn the respect of the other Asian teams”. Toroman also thanked the Filipino crowd for their not wavering support to the RP quintet side.
Toroman again didn’t use naturalization candidate Jamal Sampson for the game. The Philippines lost its two previous games with Sampson not playing in the game. Instead the Serbian coach who steered the Iranian National team to the Olympics last year relied heavily on Japeth Aguilar, Greg Slaughter and Jason Ballesteros to control the center against the taller and heftier the Syrians which is reinforced by seven-footer Zendon Hamilton, 6-foot-10 Garnett Thompson and guard Demetric Shaw. Also the formidable Syrian team also boasts three Brazilian-Syrians in 6-10 Marcelle Correa, 6-11 Eder Gorges and Michael Maadanli, who collected 23 points for the losing Al Jalaa. The Smart Gilas team lost to Al Jalaa in its opening game, 76-90.
The Filipinos however recovered fast as they posted sweet victories over Champville of Lebanon 77-71, Zain 85-82, and Al Nasr of the UAE 79-72.
The Nationals trounced Al Jazeera of Egypt in the quarterfinals 82-78, but was beaten by the defending champion Al Riyadi of Lebanon in the semi-final.
The Scores:
SMART GILAS 107—Baracael 26, Barroca 21, Tiu 12, Aguilar 10, Casio 10, Lassiter 9, Cawaling 9, Balesteros 4, Slaughter 4, Ababou 0.
AL JALAA 98—Maadanli 23, Correa 18, Shaw 16, Hamilton 10, Gorges 9, Al Sharif 8, Thompson 7, Meraneh 5, Papazian 2.
Quarter Scores: 18-26, 40-48, 67-
70, 107-98
Chess | howitzer | 
January 30, 2010 6:55 pm | 
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