Lebanon Five Beat Smart Gilas Gains Semis

The Smart Gilas Pilipinas yielded to the tournament’s defending champion Al-Riyadi in a hardly-fought and very close battle for a finals berth of the 21st Dubai Invitational. The Lebanon side score a nail-biting 79-76 victory over the Philippine squad. The repulsed RP team however gained respect they deserved, as they bowed to their rivals after giving their all-out effort and their heart. The Philippine quintet almost pulled the rug over their opponents which is beefed by American imports. With the numerous Filipino migrant workers rooting for the Smart Gilas team and providing some measure of morale support (the sitting capacity of the stadium here is about 5,000 and a third of this are Filipinos), the Philippine team pushed the favored Lebanese to the hilt. as it even lead the game nine-point with less than four minutes left in the contest. The Lebanese unleashed a ferocious stance in the crucial minutes as they whipped out the zone very well to take control of the game, and eventually wrapping up the game over the gritty and feisty Filipinos side. The Lebanese relied heavily on their experience to overcome the Filipinos. RP Serbian coach Rajko Toroman said, “I think experience came into play in this game. They put the zone and we suddenly couldn’t execute’. CJ Giles, the Smart Gilas’ original choice for naturalization scored a game-high 29 points, several of them coming from thunderous dunks.In other semi-final game, the Iranians trounced Al-Jalaa of Syria 95-93 to advance in the finals. The Filipinos lost its two games without their American reinforcement, including a setback to finalist Al Jalaa on their opening game. Smart Gilas also had a shallow bench as its key players were humbled by injuries. Abesent in the game against the Lebanese team were Rabeh Al Husseini and Aldrech Ramos, while players with injuries includes Tiu (left leg), Mark Barocca (back), Dylan Ababou(nose), Jason Ballesteros (left shoulder), JV Casio (contusion) and Japeth Aguilar (recovering from dengue). Toroman said, “Our problem is lack of ceiling we don’t have too much inside game, and that’s really a big problem. I think thought that Jason and Greg gave their all,” and  he added, “Lebanon has two NBA players, lots of Americans, lots of national players, that’s why I told the players not to be disappointed. e have to be proud of and I’m proud of them because they showed that for 10 months they would be very competitive in Asia.”

The semi-final score

Al-Riyadi 79- Giles 29, Colson 20, El Turk, Mahmoud 8, Frieje 7, Vogel 3, Ahmed 3

Smart Gilas – Baracael 23, Tiu 17, Casio 17, Barroca 8, Lassiter 7, Ballesteros 4, Aguilar 4, Ababou 3, Slaughter 0