Another loss for RP 5; drops game vs Lebanon

Close but no cigar. Powerade-Team Pilipinas gave Lebanon a big scare but fell short in the end for a 95-83 loss Wednesday night in the 31st William Jones Cup tournament at the Hsinchuang gym in Taipei. After dropping their first two games and beating Kazakhstan, the Nationals lost their next two (against Japan on Tuesday and Lebanon Wednesday) falling to 1-4 just above Taiwan-B (1-5) and the winless Kazakhs (0-5).

They trailed 50-35 late in the second quarter on the strength of Brian Feghali’s outside shooting before James Yap closed out the first half with seven straight points. Behind Kerby Raymundo, the Nationals came back to narrow the gap at 59-57 midway in the third before veteran Fadi El-Khatib drained a three-pointer to spark a 15-5 Lebanon run to end the RP uprising. “We just beat ourselves, and too many fouls were called on us," said national coach Yeng Guiao, noting the RP team was awarded 15 free throws and the Lebanese 32. The Philippines outrebounded the Lebanese, 36-28, but turned the ball over on 27 occasions, 12 more than the opposition. Feghali, who played three years for Louisiana State in the US NCAA, led Lebanon with 29 points behind five triples and grabbed 10 rebounds while Jackson Vroman, the replacement for naturalized player Joseph Vogel, added 24 points with seven rebounds, four assists and five steals. Four more games remain in the country’s schedule, with South Korea, a group mate in the 25th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in Tianjin, China next month, up next this Thursday. Halfway through the annual invitational held in honor of the founding secretary-general of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), Jordan remains the only unbeaten team in the nine-team field. Three other teams – Iran, South Korea and host Taiwan – are tied at third to fifth with 3-1 slates. In an earlier game, Jordan (4-0) kept an unblemished slate intact by crushing previously unbeaten South Korea, 83-67, as Rasheim Wright scored 21 points and the defense forced the usually accurate Korean snipers (3-1) to miss 20 three-point shots. Before that, Iran (3-1), powered by 7-foot-3 Hamed Ehadadi’s 18 points and 11 rebounds, routed Japan (1-3), 82-70, and later, Taiwan-B upset Kazakhstan, 82-69, picking up its first win while handing the Kazakhs their fifth straight setback. – GMANews.TV