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Jordan dumps Gilas 5, secures finals berth in RP Invitational


FIBA World Championship-bound Jordan national team gave the Smart-Gilas national developmental squad a neat lesson on what to expect in major international tournaments. The visiting Jordanians flexed their muscles in the second half, turning a close game into a rout, and preserving an 83-75 victory in the 2010 Smart Philippine Invitational Challenge at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium. It was the second straight win for Jordan, which booked a seat in the finals of this pocket tournament. After a tightly-contested first half, Jordan went double time on defense that got their offense into high gear. The visitors led by as high as 21 points, 76-55, in the third period. Six-foot-seven Zaid Abbas and guards Mousa Alawadi and Wesam Al-Sous scored almost at will either from the perimeter or fats break points off turnovers or missed shots by the Filipino cagers. "We're playing without some of our players because of the injuries and we missed them a lot. The Philippine team is a very organized team and well coached, but they made some mistakes at the start of the second half," said Jordan coach Mario Palma. "In this game, we showed why we are in the World Championships. We have improved a lot. I'm still optimistic about our chances despite the injuries we have." Compounding the RP team's loss was the injury suffered by naturalized prospect Marcus Douthit, who suffered an ankle sprain in the first quarter and was visibly limping throughout the second half. With Douthit hobbled by an injury, coach Rajko Toroman is opting to rest his new import against Barangay Ginebra in Saturday’s encounter. "We played good in the first half, but we lost to a more experienced team that is playing in the World Championship," said RP team coach Rajko Toroman. "We had some problems with Douthit injured, but there are some things that decided the game. We lost some rebounds, missed some shots and some of our big men were not in the game and that's few of the reasons why we lost," he added. After coaching against this new version of the RP cagers, Palma proclaimed that the team of Toroman will provide a stiff challenge in next year's FIBA Asia Championship in Lebanon. "From what I see, next year the Philippine team will fight for a spot in the Olympics because they are really good and I think they will be a very difficult team to play," he said. Abbas finished with a double-double of 21 points and 13 rebounds. He was a steady presence on offense, making 9-of-11 shots. Alawadi added 13 points while Al-Sous contributed 12, all coming from the rainbow territory. Sam Daghles also had 12 markers. Jordan raced to an early 14-6 lead, but Smart-Gilas behind the revived shooting of Mac Baracael, Marcio Lassiter and JV Casio, grabbed a 37-31 lead with 2:41 to go in the second. The Jordanians closed out the period with six consecutive points, the last four from Daghlas to tie the game at 37-37 at halftime. Despite the injury, Douthit managed to score 18 points and grabbed six rebounds in 30 minutes. Lassiter was the top local scorer with 14 points and added three rebounds and three steals while Casio registered 12 points and four assists. Six-foot-11 Greg Slaughter had a solid eight-point, seven-rebound effort, including a follow-up dunk midway into the second quarter that tied the score at 26-all. - RCJ, GMANews.TV

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