Smart Gilas pulls off fourth-quarter comeback, trumps Japan

(Updated, 8:28pm) Down 58-71 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Smart Gilas Philippine National team rallied in the fourth quarter to post a 4-0 record in the William Jones Cup with an 88-84 win over Japan, Wednesday, in Taipei. Marcus Douthit came up big in the game, finishing with 26 points, while also grabbing 13 rebounds, and getting two shot blocks. The Philippine team went to Douthit almost exclusively during the opening minutes of the game which forced Japan to double team the naturalized Filipino.   The Japanese started the game well but timely three-point shots from LA Tenorio and Jeff Chan enabled the Filipinos to grab the lead after the first quarter 26-23. However, Smart-Gilas came out flat in the second quarter, garnering only two points in the period's first six minutes. The scoring drought was made worse by a bunch of turnovers, punctuated by back-to-back Enrico Villanueva offensive fouls. This enabled Japan to open up a double digit lead for at the half, 47-36.   Smart-Gilas started like a house on fire in the third quarter, scoring nine straight points. This run ended when Tenorio was called for a flagrant foul.  After the Alaska skipper was yanked out of the game, Smart-Gilas again committed a bunch of turnovers which translated into easy fast break points for the Japanese, to give them a 71-58 cushion to start the fourth quarter. Behind some hot shooting from the likes of Gary David and 2012 Governors' Cup Finals MVP Jeff Chan, the Philippines came within a point after a Chan triple, 78-79, only for Japan to play keep away with a score. On the next trip down, naturalized center Marcus Douthit split at the line, and then Gilas got a huge break as a travel was whistled on Japan. That led to a triple by Gabe Norwood that turned out to be the go-ahead basket, 82-81. After another misfire by Japan, Chan this time found Douthit with a nifty pass, allowing the Philippines to increase their lead to three, 84-81 with 1:36 left. Their opponents got several looks at the basket on their next go-around, but it ended with a double-dribble call, handing the ball back to the Philippines. Off a timeout, Douthit then used a spin move to get the score, 86-81, but Japan countered with a big-time triple to make the difference just two points, 86-84. Chan was then fouled quickly, but the Rain or Shine Elasto Painter had ice water in his veins as his calmly sank two charities to arrive at the final score, 88-84. Japan got several more looks in the dying moments of the game, but failed to connect on three outside tries. All in all, the Philippines outscored Japan 30-13 in the payoff period, and allowed just five points from Japan in the final six minutes.   The win boosts the Philippines' record to 4-0, matching Iran at the top of the standings. - Carlo Pamintuan / AMD, GMA News