Japanese turn back weary Gilas
HSINCHUANG, Taiwan. — Even without its top scorer, Japan turned back Smart Gilas Monday 84-74 in the 32nd Jones Cup International Basketball Tournament at the Hsinchuang Coliseum here.
The Japanese missed the high-scoring Takuya Kawamura but found ways to register their third victory in five games by using a fluid offense built on quick ball movement and speedy transition plays.
Forward Tomoo Amino and Kenta Hirose scored 13 points each while 7-foot-2 Fumihiko Aono and Yuta Tabuse, who played briefly for the Phoenix Suns in 2008, added 10 points apiece to offset the absence of the 6-foot-4 Kawamura.
"They’re (Smart Gilas) tired after playing a late game yesterday (Sunday) and an early game today (Monday)," said Japan coach Thomas Wisman, whose team took a one-day rest before meeting the RP five.
Marcus Douthit had 20 points and 21 rebounds for Gilas, which will wrap up its stint in the seven-team tournament against Lebanon Tuesday.
Mac Baracael led Gilas with 24 points while Marcio Lasitter added 16.
"We couldn’t recover from the game against Chinese Taipei. There wasn’t enough rest," said RP coach Rajko Toroman, whose charges prevailed in overtime over the Taiwanese 96-93 on Sunday.
Japan, which sank 28 of its 47 attempts from the field, opened the fourth with seven quick points on Takum Ishizaki’s three-pointer and two fast-break plays by Kenta Hirose that gave them to a 62-52 lead.
Marcio Lasitter nailed two consecutive triples, Mac Baracael sank another trey and Lasitter’s slick pass on a cutting JVee Casio put Gilas closer 66-70 with three minutes remaining.
The Japanese then threw a full-court pressure while occasionally shifting to the zone that rattled Smart Gilas’ ferocious chase.