A dazzling first quarter where the nationals opened up a 29-14 lead and a tremendous final quarter where Smart Gilas outscored the Australians 32-21 nailed down the team’s third win in four games with Wednesday’s rematch with the Australian Institute of Sports ending in a 73-73 standoff in regulation and both coaches deciding not to play an extra five minutes since it was effectively a no-bearing practice game.
Dylan Ababou seeing extended minutes for the first time led all scorers with 20 points in just over 19 minutes of action while Mac Baracael finished with 15 points, sweet shooting team captain Chris Tiu adding 14 points aside from pulling down 4 rebounds and handing off 2 assists in nearly 27 minutes on the court.
Lanky Japeth Aguilar played just under eleven and a half minutes but contributed 10 points with 1 rebounds and 1 shot block while Greg Slaughter continued his consistent run with 9 points to go with 5 rebounds and 2 blocks in only 7 minutes 42 seconds of action.
Jason Ballesteros scored 9 points and was the leading rebounder with 11 boards aside from 1 shot block and 1 assist. Marcio Lassiter also played a key role with 8 points, 2 rebounds, 3 steals and 1 shot block while RJ Razul added 6 points.
The Canberra Gunners were led by star center/forward Glenn Baird who played in the US NCAA and can shoot the three, with 14 points and 7 rebounds while Jonathan Miller checked in with 13 points and 3 rebounds, point guard Shane Brown 12 points and 3 rebounds and Jamie Mesman 11 points, 5 rebounds and 2 assists.
One of the keys to the rousing win for coach Rajko Toroman and his Smart Gilas youngsters was their ability to keep Macedonian-born guard Zlatko Todorovski in check. The Filipinos went to the dugout at halftime with a 15 point cushion 49-34 which the Canberra Gunners with a solid third cut to 6 at 69-63.
But spitfire point guard Mark Barroca buried a three less than 30 seconds into the final quarter and then pulled off a steal and when Ballesteros scored the Smart Gilas lead was quickly up to 11 74-63. After Shane Brown scored Ababou replied almost immediately and with a three point play made it 77-65 time down to 8:12.
An Ababou triple made it 83-69 before Lassiter and Slaughter split their charities to push Smart Gilas in front by 16, 88-72. Todorovski scored back-to-back baskets including a three-point shot for a 91-78 count with 2:48 remaining A basket by Baracael, a triple by Jazul and another triple by Lassiter sandwiched baskets by Aaron Coddington and Jonathan Miller but when Todorovski was forced into a turnover on an errant pass and Ballesteros scored Smart Gilas enjoyed their biggest lead of the ballgame, 19 points with 48 seconds left to play before Daniel Jackson scored the final basket for the Gunners to make it 101-84.
For the first time in their Australian stint the Filipinos were able to hold their own off the boards with both sides pulling down 31 rebounds. However, Smart Gilas out-hustled the Gunners with 5 steals to 1, had 5 shot blocks against 2, committed less turnovers 6 to 9 , shot better from beyond the arc with 13- of- 28 for 46 percent compared to 6-of-15 by the Gunners for a 40 percent clip and converting 26-of-32 free throws for a high 81 percent while the Canberra squad made 22-of-33 for 67 percent.
Smart Gilas Stats:
FG - 31/64 (48%)
3pts FG - 13/28 (46%)
FT % - 26/32 (81%)
Rebounds - 31 (Ballesteros 11)
Assists - 7
Steals - 5
Blocks - 5 (Slaughter 2)
Turnovers - 6
Points in the Paint - 22
Boxscore:
Smart Gilas 101 - Ababou 20, Baracael 15, Tiu 14, Barroca 10, Aguilar 10, Slaughter 9, Ballesteros 9, Lassiter 8, Jazul 6, Cawaling 0, Sison 0.
Canberra Gunners 84 - Baird 14, Miller 13, Todorovski 13, Brown 12, Mesman 11, Jackson 7, Aaron Coddington 6, Heaton 4, Lacey 2, Malcom 2.
Quarters: 29-14, 49-34, 69-63, 101-84
Source: Ronnie Nathanielsz | InsideSports.ph
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