Smart Gilas-Pilipinas rallied past Japan, 94-78, to book a semifinal seat in the 33rd William Jones Cup basketball tournament at the end of preliminary play Friday at the Hsinjhuang Stadium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

The Nationals finished the eliminations with a 5-2 card to take the second seeding going into Saturday's Final Four round, where they will face No. 3 team and two-time defending champion Iran. They stunned the Iranians in the opener, 73-59.

The last time the country ruled the annual cage meet was in 1998 behind coach Tim Cone and his high-profile RP Centennial team.

South Korea took the top ranking to arrange a duel with No. 4 seed and host Chinese-Taipei.

A loss by Gilas to Japan would have allowed Jordan to advance by virtue of the winner-over-the other rule in case of a tie. The Jordanians won over the Nationals, 76-72, early in the eliminations.

But Dondon Hontiveros would never allow the Japanese to pull an upset. His two three-pointers in the fourth quarter sparked a huge 16-2 run that turned a 65-68 deficit into an 81-70 lead with four minutes and eight seconds left in the game.

Marcus Douthit was again at the forefront of Gilas' offense with 32 points while also grabbing 18 rebounds. He teamed up with Hontiveros and fellow big man Japeth Aguilar in that Gilas scoring run.

"They played great. We didn't play bad (in the first half), they (Japane) just played good. I told the players we have to put a lot of energy because it's not easy to stop them from shooting," Gilas coach Rajko Toroman said.

Japan's outside gunners had a field day in the first half, nailing seven three-pointers with Keijuro Matsui shooting 5-of-5.

Matsui made his final three-pointer in the first half with a minute left in the second period to give Japan a 47-42 lead. The Japanese took a 49-44 advantage at the break.

"I’m very satisfied with our performance. This Japan team is young, they know how to play, very disciplined, quick and they have great shooters," Toroman added.

Matsui typified Japan's sizzling outside shooting as he fired a perfect 8-of-8 from the same spot, while missing just one of his two free throws for a team-high 27 points.

Scores:

Smart-Gilas Pilipinas 94 — Douthit 32, Hontiveros 14, Tiu 11, Lassiter 11, Lutz 9, Barroca 8, Aguilar 7, Taulava 2, Casio 0, Baracael 0, Ballesteros 0, Ababou 0.

Japan 78 — Matsui 27, Nishimura 11, Okada 9, Hinkley 8, Ota 7, Shonaka 5, Togashi 5, Ito 4, Arao 2, Kamata 0, Noguchi 0, Sakai 0.

Quarter scores: 24-20; 49-44; 65-68; 94-78.

source: JVP, GMA News