Gilas overcomes Korea, makes FIBA Asia finals, earns World Cup berth

(Updated 10:35pm) The run of South Korea tormenting the Philippine team in basketball is over.

Gilas Pilipinas defeated South Korea, 86-79, on Saturday, to earn the right to play Iran in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship Finals, at the Mall of Asia Arena. With the win, the Philippines also earned a berth in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Spain.

"To all the haters and the skeptics, I forgive you," said a triumphant Gilas head coach Chot Reyes. "God bless you and mabuhay ang Pilipinas."

"Our game plan was to force their big men to beat us. We didn't want their shooters to beat us," Reyes added. "That was for Jong [Uichico], for Olsen [Racela], for Rajko [Toroman] and for all those who had a hard time against Korea."

[Related: Gilas vs Korea - a chance for heartbreak, a chance for redemption]

"Gusto ko lang magpasalamat sa lahat ng naniniwala. Pasensya na po kayo di ko mapigilan ang maiyak," said forward Ranidel De Ocampo, who hit a key three-pointer with 1:35 left in the game when the Koreans were within a point. "Para sa inyo po lahat ang sakripisyo namin sa Gilas.

"Kahit po sandali lang kaming magkakasama pero nagawa pa rin natin," added the big man. "Sana yung mga susunod na FIBA Asia dito pa rin maganap. Gusto naming maging defending champions"

Gilas opened the game with two defensive stops, and Jeff Chan triple from the top of the key. Kim Joo-Sung replied with a layup and a short jumper, both over Marcus Douthit to give Korea a 4-3 lead.

Marc Pingris scored down low to reclaim the lead for Gilas at the 7:00 mark, but Cho Sungmin scored his side's first triple for a 7-5 lead. Another triple from Cho gave Korea the lead at 10-9, but Larry Fonacier swished a floater at the 3:28 to put the home team ahead anew.

Kim Joo-Sung strung together five straight points for Korea to give them a 17-13 lead with 1:26 left in the first, but Jayson Castro swooped in for a layup to put the Philippines within four points, at 19-15, to end the first quarter.

Castro scored the first four points of the second quarter to knot the game at 19-all, but the Koreans had their own 4-0 run for 23-19 lead.

Lee Jong Hyun heated up from mid-range for a 27-21 count in their favor. Lee Sung Joon added a free throw to bump the Korean lead up to seven points.

Jimmy Alapag nailed a triple at the 5:00 mark of the second to get to within two points, but Gilas had to sub Douthit out as he re-injured his left leg.

Korea capitalized and went on a 5-0 run, but a Pingris and-one play trimmed their lead down to four points with 3:28 left in the second.

Gilas went on a run led by Pingris to get to within a point of Korea, but Kim Mingoo made a difficult reverse layup to make it a 39-36 buffer in favor of the visitors at the end of the second period.

At the half, Pingris led Gilas with 10 points while Castro added eight. They only got two points from Douthit, who as it turned out, would not return.

Korea, on the other hand, was led by Kim Joo-Sung who outplayed both Douthit and Japeth Aguilar in the first quarter.

Instead of succumbing to the pressure of possibly playing without their big man in the middle, Gilas went wild in the third quarter.

Castro knew that he had a distinct speed advantage on offense against the Korean defenders. He scored on two straight layups to give the Philippines a 40-39 lead, before converting on another daredevil drive at the 7:35 mark to give Gilas a three-point lead. Pingris then added a tip-in, followed by a Castro triple to bring the packed crowd into a frenzy.

A Ranidel De Ocampo mid-range jumper gave Gilas a 49-45 lead. Later on, a stretch layup by LA Tenorio made the count 56-48 at the 4:06 mark of the third period. However, Kim Mingoo completed an and-one play to bring the Gilas lead back down to five.

In a complete role reversal at the 2:02 mark of the third, it was Alapag who scored on a put-back off an Aguilar three point miss. Alapag added a triple on the next play to give the Philippines a 63-53 lead, but Kim Mingoo took it right back with his own conversion from deep.

Castro completed his tremendous third quarter by dishing out an assist for an Aguilar slam to give the Philippines a 65-56 lead heading into the payoff period.

Kim Mingoo continued his hot shooting as he opened the fourth with a triple, but De Ocampo replied with one of his patented bankers for a 67-59 count still in Gilas’ favor.

Yet another Kim Mingoo trey got the Koreans to within five points. Yang Donggeun then added a fast break layup at the 8:02 mark to get Korea closer at 67-64. Aguilar however replied with a short stab off a De Ocampo pass to bring the Gilas lead back to five points.

The Koreans brought the lead down to a single point at 4:40 as Kim Mingoo completed a four-point play. It was quickly followed by a Lee Seung Jun dunk at the 4:18 mark to give Korea a 74-73 lead. He added a free throw to install a two-point lead.

Alapag gave Gilas back the lead with a triple with 3:01 left in the game, but Kim Tae-Sool quickly stole it back with a jumper to settle the score at 77-76 in favor of Korea.

De Ocampo stepped up to score a layup to continue the see-saw battle between the two fierce rivals. With the seconds dwindling down, Pingris stole the ball, which led to a De Ocampo triple for an 81-77 Gilas lead.

Korea was able to bring the lead back down to two points as Yang Donggeun scored on two free throws, but Alapag then sank a cold-blooded three with 54 seconds to go to build an 84-79 lead for the Philippines.

[Related: Jimmy Alapag does it again, and again, and again]

Pingris sealed the deal with a put-back of a Castro miss for the win.

Castro led Gilas with 17 markers on an efficient 8-of-13 clip. Marc Pingris put together a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds, while Jimmy Alapag nailed 4-of-7 triples en route to 14 points.

Kim Mingoo led Korea with 27 points off the bench. Yang Donggeun and Kim Joo-sung added 11 markers apiece.

The Philippines shot 50 percent for the game and survived a 6-17 difference in free throw attempts. They out-rebounded their foes, 38-27, and got a 38-22 advantage in points in the paint. – RAF/ELR/HS, GMA News