Smart Gilas-Pilipinas failed to sustain a huge second half effort and fell short against South Korea, 78-70, Wednesday night in the William Jones Cup basketball tournament at the Hsinjhuang stadium in New Taipei City, Taiwan.

With JV Casio exploding from the outside, the Nationals rallied back from a 40-28 third-quarter deficit and even grabbed the lead at 48-46 on a Mac Baracael jumper.

But Gilas big man Marcus Douthit was whistled for his fourth foul inside the final six minutes, and the Koreans readily took advantage with 7-foot-3 NBA veteran draining back-to-back baskets while Se Keun Oh scored six straight points in a 10-0 run.

Suddenly, the Koreans turned a tight 63-63 contest to a 73-63 advantage with three minutes left in the game.

The Nationals threatened for the last time at 74-70 with 1:57 to go, but three turnovers finally doomed Gilas with the Koreans translating the errors into four points for the final tally.

"Korea played a good game," said Smart-Gilas coach Rajko Toroman, whose team will play winless United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday. "We had a problem in the first half, with the rebounds and that’s usually our biggest problem. We played good in the second half. We’re so close."

Casio paced Gilas with 27 points, including 22 in the second half. Douthit added 16 and Baracael had 15 for the Nationals, who fell to 3-2 following the loss that derailed their entry into the semifinals.

The Koreans, still unbeaten in five games to remain on top, were led by Oh’s 19 points. It was also their second straight win against Gilas since beating the same team in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China last year.

"But there are more possibilities, to return and win against either Jordan or Korea (in the semifinals)," Toroman added.

The Koreans ended the first half with a strong finishing kick, scoring nine unanswered points in a three-minute stretch to reverse a 25-27 deficit into a 34-27 lead.

A Douthit split free throw with 48 seconds left before the break finally ended Gilas’ scoring drought, but the Koreans hit a three-pointer for a 37-28 spread at the turn.

The Nationals held the Koreans, known for their deadly outside shooting, to a poor 2-of-9 shooting from three-point range.

Scores:

Korea 78 - Oh 19, D.G. Yang 17, Ha 16, Moon 11, J.S. Kim 6, J.S. Lee 5, Kang 2, J.K. Kim 2, Park 0, Y,H. Kim 0, Cho 0, H.J. Yang 0.

Smart-Gilas 70 - Casio 27, Douthit 16, Baracael 13, Tiu 6, Lutz 4, Taulava 2, Aguilar 2, Barroca 0, Hontiveros 0, Ballesteros 0, Lassiter 0, Ababou 0.

Quarter scores: 14-16; 37-28; 56-56; 78-70. 







source:  JVP, GMA News