Koreans beat Team Phl
Crashes out of Asiad medal contention in Asiad Games
The “curse” lives on.
Team Philippines bowed out of medal contention in the 2018 Asian Games men’s basketball tournament after being turned back by longtime tormentor South Korea, 91-82, in the quarterfinals at the GBK Basket Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia on Monday.
The Nationals, who did a commendable job arresting a lethargic start, went on to dictate the pace in the middle quarters. They also shot better against a team noted for their stroke from distance.
Jordan Clarkson had another prolific scoring performance adorned by 25 points. Christian Standhardinger, Stanley Pringle and Paul Lee scripted encores to their first two showings in the tournament by posting double-digit productions.
But all that changed when it mattered. The Koreans went on to catch fire in the payoff period. They made their second chance points count and capitalized on Ricardo Ratliffe’s labor down low to finally catch up on the Filipinos, who once led by as many as eight points in the third quarter.
Ilyoung Heo, Junbeom Jeon and Sunhyung Kim figured in that blistering run in the final frame. Their hot long-distance shooting stretched the Koreans’ lead to 12.
Ratliffe finished the game with 30 points and 15 rebounds.
The Koreans went on to assert themselves in the post, corralling offensive rebounds to thwart the Filipinos’ comeback bid.
The Philippines’ loss extends star-crossed history of heartbreaking outings against Korea in the Asiad that dates back to 1986 iteration of the meet where the latter won, 103-102.
The Filipinos the absorbed a string of gutwrenching losses in 2002 (69-68 in Busan) and in 2014 (97-95 in Incheon).
After an impressive showing against the Kazakstan and a commendable outing against China, the Filipinos will now have to settle for the consolation finish with fifth place being the highest and the eighth place as the lowest.
The scores Philippines (82) - Clarkson 25, Standhardinger 16, Pringle 14, Lee 11, Almazan 7, Norwood 3, Belga 3, Taulava 0, Erram 0.
Korea (91) - Ratliffe 30, Kim 17, Heo IY 17, Lee SH 11, Jeon 9, Heo U 6, Lee JH 1, Park 0, Choi 0.
Quarters: 18-22, 42-44, 65-64, 91-82.— Philstar.com