Wednesday, July 04, 2007

Jones Cup Day 3: Philippines lost on final-second heartbreaker again

-- Japan 86-84 Philippines

For the second consecutive day, the Philippines lost on the final possession. Yusuke Otada scored the winning fastbreak layup off a steal with one second left as Japan upset Philippines 86-84 with an unbelievable 26-13 final quarter rally.

With the score tied at 84, Donaldo Hontiveros' only turnover in the game came at an ill-fated time when his pass was intercepted by Japan in Philippine's last possession. Otada dashed upcourt and scored the winning shot as Japanese players stormed the court to celebrate.

Referees re-set the game clock back to one second amid Japan's celebration. However, Philippines failed to convert the last play.

Philippines, which led by as many as 12 points in the game, lost to Lebanon last night by three on a banked-in three-pointer at the buzzer.

JAP: Shohei Kikuchi 27p, Takanori Onishi 23p, Yusuke Otada 18p, Takumi Ishizaki 10a+5s
PHI: Florendo Ritualo Jr. 21p(7-10 3PT), D. Hontiveros 11p, Anthony Helterbrand 10p

-- Lebanon 90-77 Kazakhstan

LIB: Fadi Khatib 33p(11-19 FG, 8-11 FT)+7rb+6a, Joe Vogel 14p+12rb
KAZ: Anton Ponomarev 16p+8rb, R. Yargavliev 15p, Dmitriy Korovnikov 11p

-- Qatar 74-72 Iran

QAT: O.A. Salem 20p+7rb, Khalid Suliman 18p+8rb, Yasseen Ismail Musa 13p+7rb, Saad Abdulrahman Ali 14p
IRN: M.S. Nikkah Bahrami 16p, Aidin Nikkah Bahrami 13p+9rb, Iman Zandi Mashhadi 11p