The Philippine Online Chronicles

Even without their primary post scorer Marcus Douthit or one of their premier perimeter players JV Casio, the Philippines managed to beat a determined Malaysian team.

For over 20 minutes, Malaysia surprisingly kept in step with the Filipinos. However, a couple of in-game adjustments led to the Philippines’ breakaway in the second half, resulting to an 86-68 win in the 33^rd edition of the William Jones Cup held in Taiwan.

With the absence of Douthit, who is averaging 19 points and eight rebounds per outing in the tournament, other players had to step up for the Philippines. Fortunately, skipper Chris Tiu played his best game and Mac Baracael stepped up when needed as they both scored 14 points apiece.

Aside from Tiu and Baracael, Japeth Aguilar and Marcio Lassiter both scored 13 points while Chris Lutz chipped in 12.

Coach Rajko Toroman opted to rest Douthit in order to prepare him for the game against South Korea later today.

The Malaysians were in striking distance of the Philippines in the first half and even led by one point early in the third. However, the Philippines turned a one-point deficit into a 21-point lead in a few minutes with a scorching 24-2 run.

With the game in the bag late in the third, the Philippines’ Asi Taulava got involved in a mad scuffle with center Yoong Jing Kwaan, after the latter grabbed the private parts of the former.

Taulava fell to the floor in severe pain and then got up quickly to launch one huge right hook and an uppercut that grazed the Malaysian, who ran to the bench immediately.

Both Taulava and Kwaan were ejected from the game, although there’s a good chance that Taulava, who is Douthit’s backup, will be able to play later today.

Despite Malaysia’s loss, Li Wei Chee gave a good account of himself by scoring 15 points while Yeo Seng John Ng added nine. Malaysia and UAE are the only teams that have yet to win in the tournament.

With the win, the Filipinos are going to face South Korea, the same team that ended the Philippines’ title aspirations in last year’s Asian Games. The Koreans are led by Korean-American Stevenson Cameron, who has already buried 13 triples in the tournament.

The Philippines needs to be in the top four in the standings in order to be in a position to reach the semifinals, which will start this Saturday.

Team Standings

Iran 84, UAE 55

After losing yesterday to South Korea, reigning Asian champions Iran is back on track after thoroughly dominating UAE, 84-55, in the fourth day of the 2011 Jones Cup.

Center Asghar Kardoust feasted on UAE’s reed-thin frontline by scoring 23 points and grabbing nine rebounds. Aside from the 24-year-old Kardoust, forward Oshin Sahakian and shooting guard Saman Veisi chipped in 13 points apiece for the Iranians.

Iran immediately went to work by posting an 11-point cushion in the opening quarter. However, UAE responded with a run by cutting down Iran’s the double-digit lead down to seven going into the second half.

In the third quarter, the Iranians made sure that UAE wouldn’t make another run by building a 16-point lead going into the final period. Iran coasted in the last quarter, notching their second win in four games in the tournament.

For UAE, shooting guard Ibrahim Ahmad led the charge with 14 points while Khalifa Salem added nine.

After dominating their opponents by an average of 42 points, South Korea had a hard time putting away a determined Japanese squad in the fourth day of action in this year’s Jones Cup.

Center Oh Sek-Eun scored 22 points and 14 rebounds to lead South Korea past Japan, 69-67. Aside from Eun, shooting guard Yang Dong-Geun and center Kim Joo-Sung finished with 14 points apiece.

South Korea came out on top in the first quarter with a slim 17-16 advantage. With the Japanese in striking distance all the time, South Korea made a couple of shots in the final minutes of the second quarter to post an eight-point lead.

From the third to the last quarter, the Koreans were still on top, but the Japanese made a huge run in the last few minutes to close the gap. However, South Korea showed enough character and poise to eke out a narrow win.

South Korea remains undefeated in the tournament while Japan fell to 1-3. The Koreans are going to face the Filipinos later today.

For Japan, shooting guard Keijuro Matsui led the charge with 12 points while Takeki Shonaka contributed 11.

Taiwan 77, Jordan 75

Jordan’s three-game winning streak finally came to an end after losing to host-nation Taiwan, 77-75. In a game that was marred with questionable officiating, the Taiwanese took an early 17-12 lead after the first 10 minutes of action.

In the second quarter, Jordan made a run by scoring 22 points, tying the game at 34-all going into the third period. In the third quarter, Jordan kept Taiwan at bay by hitting timely shots and converting on free throw attempts.

Things changed drastically for Taiwan in the final period when they unloaded 23 points to take the victory over the heavily favored Jordan.

Taiwan relied on center Wen-Ting Tseng who scored 18 points. Aside from Wen, Hsin-An Chen chipped in 16 points Tsung-Hsien Chang added 14.

For Jordan, forward Abbas Zaid had a double-double performance by scoring 21 points and hauling down 11 rebounds. Naturalized player Rasheim Wright contributed 19 points for the Jordanians.