Before lonely empty seats, Team Philippines churned out a superb come-from-behind triumph over Qatar to enhance its FIBA World Cup dream.
The Nationals struggled badly in the first half but worked wondrously in the second half to turn back the Qataris, 92-81, and thus stay at solo third in Group F of the FIBA Asia WC qualifiers at the Smart Araneta Coliseum last night.
"The first half was just really bad, especially the shooting percentage from the three-point area. To think that we have the best shooters in the land, it's an aberration. Maybe, hangover from the Iran game. Nagtuloy-tuloy ang alat," said national coach Yeng Guiao on their woeful first half that saw them convert just one of 15 three-point tries.
"Meanwhile, as big as Qatar was, I felt what really gave them the lead in the first half was their three-point shooting (7-of-13). It's not really their size, it's their incredible shooting," Guiao also said.
The Nationals, however, stayed patient through their struggle before making a decisive move from the halftime huddle to salvage the game that kept them right behind Iran and ahead of the surging Japan squad.
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Through the fourth window of the FIBA Asia WC eliminator, Australia is at 7-1, followed by Iran (6-2), the Philippines (5-3), Japan (4-4), Kazakhstan (3-5) and Qatar (2-6).
"You would really admire all these guys. They just didn't want to lose the game," said Guiao on the tremendous effort put up by the Nationals so as not to blow the game.
"Ayaw namin matalo sa bahay natin. Baka paglabas namin ng venue, baka pagbabatuhin kami," said Beau Belga, among the top performers in their conquest of the Qataris in this closed-door tussle.
Alex Cabagnot and Japeth Aguilar top scored with 16 points each, Stanley Pringle piled up 13 points, six rebounds and three assists while Belga came up with 11 markers, six boards, three dish-offs, three blocks and one steal.
The rest had their crucial contribution in Team Phl's mighty fightback from 17 points down at 20-37.
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The Nationals applied a pressing defense and ran at every opportunity on offense to key their turnaround.
"We just waited for them to miss their shots. And we used our speed advantage. We kept running the whole game. We rotated all 12 players and kept everybody fresh so they can put the pressure and sustain the run," said Guiao.
The Nationals wore down the visiting team in time.
The Qataris were down 5-8 before seizing control at 26-13 on a sudden 14-to-nothing attack marked by 3-of-3 triples and a three-point play.
And the Qataris led by as many as 17 before settling for a 52-39 halftime lead on a torrid 7-of-13 three-point shooting and a 18-of-33 clip overall.
The Philippines wiped out the 13-point halftime deficit in pummeling Qatar, 28-12, in the third period. And there's no stopping the Nationals from clinching the crucial win.
The scores:
Philippines 92 - Cabagnot 16, Aguilar 16, Pringle 13, Belga 11, Lee 8, Wright 6, Sangalang 5, Lassiter 5, Erram 4, Thompson 3, Taulava 3, Norwood 2.
Qatar 81 - Mohmmed 26, Ngombo 17, Al-Rayes 17, Khalid 10, Mohamed 4, Gueye 3, Abdelbaset 3, Abdelhaleem 1, Lashin 0, Al-Abdulla 0, Mujkic 0, Avdic 0.
Quarterscores: 15-26, 39-52, 67-64, 92-81
