Philipines - Toroman’s 5 triumphs

From businessmirror.com.ph
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Filipino-American Joey Deas and Mark Barocca stood tallest against the bigger and more experienced Chinese team to lead the Smart-Philippine five to a 76-72 victory on Sunday and claim the title of the first China-Asean CBO Men’s Invitational tournament at the Pinggou Arena in Guangxi, China.

Deas, a five-foot-10 point guard from Rockhurst University in Kansas who traces his roots in Cebu, and Barocca, a native of Zamboanga City, combined for 37 points and made crucial baskets in the closing seconds that doused the spirited rally by the Chinese.

It was the first international victory for the RP developmental squad, which used the tournament as part of its long-term goal of qualifying for the 2012 Olympics in London.

The team was coached by Serbian Rajko Toroman.

“It was a tough but definitely sweet victory. I challenged the boys to show their true character and they did. We did not expect to win right away so this is a very good start for our program,” said Toroman, who formed the team barely three weeks ago for the tournament.

After taking a 41-27 advantage at the half, the Filipinos raced to their largest lead at 50-35 on a sleek running game and full-court pressure defense.

But China, represented in the tournament by the Li Ning Basketball Team of Guangxi featuring five Chinese Basketball Association All-Stars, fought back through the efforts of six-foot-10 center Gao Wei to trim the deficit midway through the quarter, 50-43.

Deas kept the pressure after scoring seven of his team-high 19 points in the quarter to give the Filipinos a 58-47 lead at the end of the third period.

Gao and six-foot-four point guard Nong Jie led a big 9-0 rally for the home team at the start of the fourth to cut the lead to 58-56 with 7:16 remaining.

Deas answered with six straight points to put the lead to 64-56 before the Chinese responded with an 11-4 run behind the exploits of sweet-shooting Hu Bin to cut the lead to 68-67.

After Dylan Ababou scored with the shot clock expiring to give the RP 5 a 70-67 lead, Gao converted on a three-point play off a foul by Greg Slaughter with 1:03 remaining to tie the score at 70-all.

Barocca then took charge.

The Far Eastern University diminutive point guard playing in his first international tournament, scored on a crucial jumper to give the Philippines a 72-70 lead with 47 seconds to go. After a split charity by Hu on a foul by Mac Baracael, the Chinese had a final chance to take the lead after a botched play by the RP 5.

But Ogie Menor stole the ball from Hu, setting up Barocca for a lay-up to give the Smart-RP squad a 74-71 lead with 32 ticks remaining.

Gao then scored another split free throw with 15 seconds remaining before Barocca was fouled to peg the final score.

Deas led the team with 19 points and three assists, Barocca added 18 points, Ababou chipped 15, while Slaughter contributed nine points, four blocks and four rebounds.

“It is hard to play before a hostile crowd and under these conditions. But this victory is truly special. After all, it’s not every day that you win against China in its own turf,” said Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas executive director Noli Eala.

“We are happy for the progress of this young team. But there is still a lot of work ahead,” he added.

The team, backed by Smart and outfitted by Nike, is slated to compete in the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Laos, 2010 Asian Games in China and 2011 International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Asia Men’s Championship qualifier for the London Olympics.

With an average height of six feet and six inches, China expectedly dominated the boards, 44-33, but the RP team made it up with tenacious defense, limiting the Chinese to only two-of-15 shooting from three-point range and forcing 14 turnovers.

The Filipinos also shot 48 percent from two-point range and were 15-of-21 from the line even though the Nationals were charged with 10 more fouls, 26-16.

China was led by Gao with 32 points, 11 boards and 4 assists while Hu added 15.