Smart Gilas-Pilipinas routs UAE

Source : Reynaldo Belen, InterAKTV

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team showed no signs of slowing down despite playing its sixth game in as many days in the 2011 Jones Cup in Taipei.
And despite coming off a heartbreaking setback at the hands of South Korea on Thursday, the Philippine team took care of business against lowly United Arab Emirates, cruising to an easy 95-60 victory.
Due to the last-minute pull out of South Africa, organizers were forced to revise the schedule and format of the tournament. Instead of the usual single-round tournament with the top team emerging as champion, knockout playoff stages with semifinal and final rounds were added. It also meant that the schedule was compressed, with the teams having to play everyday with no day off.
It was the fourth win in six games for the Filipinos, who will face a young but dangerous Japan team on Friday.
Marcus Douthit finished with 23 points and 13 rebounds while Filipino-Americans Chris Lutz and Marcio Lassiter, two players who have already applied for the PBA Rookie Draft later this month, also brought in their A-games against UAE.
Lutz, a former Marshall University guard, finished with 13 points off the bench. Lassiter, meanwhile, was active on both ends of the court, scoring 10 points, grabbing seven rebounds and dishing out two assists. Lassiter ignited the first of a series of Filipino runs in the first period, scoring seven points in a 12-1 run that gave SMART-Gilas its first comfortable lead, 17-6.
After Lutz’s three-point play put SMART-Gilas ahead, 26-12, with 8:32 remaining in the second period, Kalifa Salem, a cerebral lefty guard from UAE, rallied his team to within one point behind a crippling 15-1 spurt. As in its past games, the Philippine team was hurt by their sloppy ballhandling in the first half, when they committed six turnovers to settle for a 38-31 lead.
But Douthit began to assert his might in the second half, scoring a dunk and a buzzer-beating basket at the end of the third quarter that shoved SMART-Gilas ahead, 65-49.
There was no let up for the Filipinos in the fourth quarter as they unloaded 30 points while holding their rivals to only 11 points.

The scores:
SMART-Gilas Pilipinas (95) – Douthit 23, Lutz 13, Lassiter 10, Taulava 10, Aguilar 8, Hontiveros 7, Casio 7, Tiu 6, Barroca 4, Ababou 4, Baracael 3, Ballesteros 0.
UAE (60) – Salem 15, Al Braiki 13, Mubarak 8, Omar 6, Alameri 5, Al Zaabi 5, Abdalla 4, Ahmed 4, Alali 0, Alhattawi 0, Ahmad 0, Aljunaibi 0.
Quarterscores: 19-10; 38-31; 65-49; 95-60.