The Gilas Pilipinas suffered their first loss of the FIBA Asia Championship at the expense of the more aggressive Chinese Taipei team that remains unbeated in Group A with the final score at 84-79.
The Philippine team was leading in the third quarter after they made a 16-point explosion from Larry Fonacier as the national team took a 68-55 advantage heading into the final period but the Gilas weren’t able to capitalized on their advantage.
During the fourth period the Chinese Taipei started with a huge 17-4 run to tie the match at 72-all with only 5:11 left in the game. The Gilas took the lead at 77-75 but Tseng Wen-Ting nailed a three-pointer off a backboard to give his team the lead. Lu Cheng-Ju hit another three-pointer in the next play for Chinese Taipei to push the lead further to four points.
Gilas point guard Jayson Castro William scored a layup for the Philippines to put the score at 81-79, with 43 seconds left. Gabe Norwood was called for a foul in the next play, giving Lin Chin-Chieh two free throws that gave Chinese Taipei a four-point lead.
Scores:
Lu (22 points, 6-of-9 three pointers), Lin (20, 3-of-6), Tien (18, 4-of-8), and Tseng (16, 2-of-3) all caught fire for Chinese Taipei, which shot a blistering 50 percent from long distance.
Fonacier led the way for Gilas with 21 points, while Marcus Douthit added 16 points and 10 rebounds.
