Gilas scores awesome win over host Taiwan

TAIPEI – Gilas Pilipinas celebrated its Jones Cup return with an awe-inspiring 77-69 triumph over the home team, erasing memory of a bitter loss to the Taiwanese at home in Manila back in 2013.

Minus naturalized player AndrayBlatche and majority of the old Gilas group, the Nationals rode high on the exploits of newcomers Terrence Romeo and Calvin Abueva as they humbled the Taiwanese on their backyard to set in motion their bid in the nine-team, eight-nation invitational tourney.

Old vanguard Jayson Castro seized the moment at the finish as Gilas Pilipinas weathered Chinese Taipei’s final-half siege, thus completing a triumphant return in the meet the Filipinos won the last time they played here in 2012.

A good number of Filipinos, including Fil-Am NBA player Jordan Clarkson, formed part of the sellout crowd witnessing the rousing win that spoke well of Gilas’ capability to compete here.

“Honestly, I don’t want to be carried away by this win. We’re happy to win it but there are so many things to work on, and we’ll focus on that,” said Gilas coach Tab Baldwin.

“It’s always a big thing for Gilas to win with millions of Filipinos back home and around the world happy with it. That’s the way it is in our country. But we’ll be back to work now. We play Korea (at 5 p.m. today) and that’s the only thing we’re thinking about now,” Baldwin also said.

Earlier, four-time champion Iran and SpartakPrimorye of Russia grabbed early share of the lead with similar 2-0 win-loss starts.

Iran crushed South Korea, 77-46, on opening day then pummeled Chinese Taipei B, 88-66, yes- terday -- clear indications the Iranians are doing their job well in preparation for the coming FIBA Asia Championship.

South Korea, the reigning Asian Games champ that’s also gearing up for the FIBA Asia meet, made a big improvement from its 31-point blow- out by Iran, narrowly losing to SpartakPrimorye, 84-86, yesterday.

It’s the Russians’ second straight win in the tourney following an 84-65 clobbering of USA Select-Overtake Saturday.

Day Three will feature a pair of interesting showdowns between Asian teams with Iran and Japan facing off at 3 p.m. then Gilas Pilipinas and South Korea squaring off at 5 p.m.

Romeo top scored with 18 points while Castro and Abueva added 16 and 15, respectively, for the Filipinos who finally tasted a victory after a 0-3 stint in the Toyota Four Nations Cup in Estonia.

Romeo and Abueva, among the rookies on the Gilas lineup, made good impression in their Jones Cup debut.

“Terrence is not a fluke. He can play the way he played tonight. It’s truly his craft. He’s professional about his craft, and he deserves a lot of respect and admiration,” said Baldwin of Romeo.

On Abueva, the Gilas coach said: “We always know what he’s gonna get. He’s a ball of energy. He’s a solar energy. He’s amazing.”

The two fueled Gilas’ first-half breakaway and teamed up with Castro as they fended off Chinese Taipei’s charge in the final half.