The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team shrugged off a sluggish start to cruise to an easy 92-52 win over United Arab Emirates on the opening night of the 2011 FIBA Asia Championship in Wuhan, China.

UAE jumped to a quick 5-0 start in the opening minutes of the game and naturalized center Marcus Douthit was hit with an early unsportsmanlike foul when he was involved in a small scuffle with UAE big man Ali Alhattawi.
But the the Filipinos, behind Douthit and Kelly Williams, dominated the paint in the second quarter, both offensively and defensively to swing the tide decisively in their favor. Douthit scored nine points in the second after a scoreless first quarter as SMART-Gilas entered halftime with a solid 41-22 lead.

Team Pilipinas opened the second half with a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 50-22 and all but put the game away. They outscored UAE 28-13 in the quarter and entered the final period with a near-insurmountable 34 point lead.

SMART-Gilas put up a balanced effort with six players scoring nine points or more. Mac Baracael, a late addition to the final roster, led the team with 15 points. Veteran Asi Taulava put up 13 points and 11 rebounds, and old reliables Douthit and Jayvee Casio pitched in 13 and 11 points, respectively.

It was a good result for a day that started with heavy news for the national squad. The eligibility questions raised against Marcio Lassiter and Chris Lutz were yet to be resolved and neither was available to play in the game.

Casio was also questionable for the game, as he skipped the final stretch of tune-up games for SMART-Gilas held in the Philippines, but his play erased many doubts about his fitness for the tournament.

Williams had eight rebounds and three blocks in a strong effort to control the paint. SMART-Gilas newcomers Ranidel De Ocampo and Jimmy Alapag had steady performances for the team, with De Ocampo scoring seven and Alapag putting up six points and four assists.

The fourth quarter was a mere formality as the Philippines put up leads of as high as 41.
Hussein Ahmed topscored for UAE with 12 points and Alhattawi added 11 for the losing squad.

SMART-Gilas takes on China on Friday in another Group D match, before wrapping up the preliminary round against Bahrain on Saturday.

source:  Mikkel Bolante -InterAKTV