Gilas Pilipinas beats Koreans, gets shot at 5th place

MANILA, Philippines – Smart Gilas Pilipinas repeated its mastery over Korea’s Sangmoo, 98-78, to advance into the battle for fifth place in the 20th FIBA Asia Champions Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday. The FIBA Asia website reported that import CJ Giles was a tower of strength with 16 points and 16 rebounds for the Filipinos, who seized control of the match in the second quarter, 38-28. La Salle gunner Joseph Casio and UST’s Dylan Ababou gave the American reinforcement a helping hand in scoring 14 and 11 points, respectively, as the team of collegiate stars got a chance to salvage fifth place in the tournament. Beom Chai Park led the Korean Army outfit with 24, drawing support from Jung Won Han’s 14 and Kyung Suk No’s 12. Gilas Pilipinas, which had impressed the crowd with its speed and spunk, will face Satria Muda of host Indonesia on Thursday to dispute fifth place overall. Sangmoo dropped into the battle for seventh. Satria Muda earned a showdown with the Filipinos after routing India’s Young Cagers, 83-61, in the other consolation pool matchup. The Rajko Toroman-mentored Gilas Pilipinas is using the cagefest as part of its long-term bid to qualify for the 2012 Olympics. The Pinoys won three of their four assignments in Group A eliminations, including a 90-76 win over Sangmoo, before bowing to Al Arabi, 71-76, in the quarterfinal. – GMANews.TV