Smart-Gilas claims Japan's first loss

Kudos to Yahoo Sports for catching this moment! 

Smart-Gilas had a weak first half but managed to turn up the heat in the second half to withstand the sweet-shooting Japan, 83 to 76.

Actually, we had the strong start but it was wiped off by a scorching offensive from the Japanese. I am serious! The Japanese guys are awesome outside shooters! They basically tormented that zone with Joji Takeuchi hitting four, Takeki Shonaka having three, and the rest of the team having five long distance shots! However, the Pinoys resisted the outside onslaught and went to the inside with Marcus Douthit getting the advantage over their towering bigs.

In the second half we outscored Japan, 49 to 36. Joji Takeuchi had 22 points in 34 minutes but his points were cancelled out by Marcus Douthit’s 25 markers. Douthit also won their matchup with him owning Joji in rebounds (18 to 8), assists (3 to nil), and blocks (3 to nil). Marcio Lassiter had his second straight good game with 15 points and one rebound, Jimmy Alapag also had 15 points, 3 rebounds, and 4 assists, and Kelly Williams had 12 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 assists. Shonaka had 14 for Japan, Kenta Hirose had 13, and Takuya Kawamura had 12 for the Japanese.

Kawamura is the ace gunner of Japan and he could have scored more but he never got to the groove thanks partly to the insanely tight defending of Chris Lutz. Keijuro Matsui, who killed us with seven triples at the 2011 Jones Cup, had zero made attempts in three tries.

Here are the upgraded stats:

POINTS:

1 – Marcus Douthit – 18.4ppg

2 – Marcio Lassiter – 14.5ppg  

3 – Chris Tiu – 8.0ppg 

4 – Jimmy Alapag – 7.8ppg 

5 – JV Casio – 7.6ppg 

REBOUNDS:

1 – Marcus Douthit – 11.4rpg

2 – Asi Taulava – 6.0rpg

3 – Kelly Williams – 4.4rpg

4 – Japeth Aguilar – 4.0rpg

5 – Mac Baracael – 3.8rpg

ASSISTS:

1 – Jimmy Alapag – 4.0apg

2 – Chris Tiu – 2.8apg

3.5 – Mark Barroca – 2.6apg

3.5 – JV Casio – 2.6apg

5 – Kelly Williams – 2.0apg

With China expected to top the group, a win against Syria will be crucial for us to take the second spot to get out of the way of Iran and Korea. China just pounded Jordan 83 to 60 while Iran cruised past Lebanon 76 to 45.

Go Gilas! More wins to come!

Game over!