Philippines to meet Japan in semis

Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas stood its ground in the face of a relentless Lebanese assault to win, 82-70, in the quarterfinals of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship late Thursday night at the College of Social Work Dayun gymnasium in Changsha, China. The victory propelled the Filipinos into a semifinal match against the sharp-shooting Japanese, who earlier stunned Qatar, 81-67. It will be the third time the Philippines will be facing Japan in a span of 30 days. The Filipinos defeated the Japanese in their two earlier matchups, winning, 75-60, on Sept. 2 in the 2015 Jones Cup in Taipei, and then prevailing anew, 73-66, in Group E second round action in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship on Sept. 27. The other semifinal will see the two giants of Asian basketball — Iran and China — trying to eliminate each other to gain the right to vie for the championship with the winner of the Philippines vs. Japan game. Host China earlier demolished India by 46 points, 104-58, in their quarterfinals, while Iran had little trouble getting past South Korea, 75-62. Jayson Castro, considered as Asia’s best point guard, once again rose to the occasion, banging in 25 points, including five three-pointers. Andray Blatche also played a huge role in the Gilas victory, finishing with 24 points and 17 rebounds. Castro caught fire early as he scored 12 of the Filipinos’ 20-point output right in the first quarter. The Gilas boys won despite suffering from three-point shooting slump, converting only four of 17 attempts. The Lebanese kept hanging on to the coattails of the Filipinos, never allowing their rivals to break the game wide open. The Filipinos increased their lead to 57-49 lead heading into the fourth quarter. But the hard-fighting Lebanese refused to back down, encouraged by the unexpected enthusiastic support coming from Chinese fans. Led by their top scorer Jasmon Youngblood, the Lebanese cut the Filipinos’ lead to just four, 61-57. But the Filipinos refused to wilt as they re-established a double-digit lead, 69-59, with only 3:50 left, never to be threatened again. Veteran power forward Marc Pingris also played a major role in the victory, Gilas finally made the decisive breakaway late in the fourth quarter when Blatche converted two free throws and then Terrence Romeo connected on his shot.