By Michael Angelo S. Murillo, Senior Reporter
SOUTH KOREA advanced to the semifinals of the basketball competition at the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia after defeating the Philippines, 91-82, in their quarterfinal matchup at the Gelora Bung Karno Basketball Hall in Jakarta on Monday.
Boosted by solid work on the rebounding department, particularly on the offensive end, to complement its steady outside shooting, Korea proved to be a handful for the Philippines late in the game to run away with the victory and advance to the final four of the tournament while relegating the Philippines to the consolation battle.
The Koreans jump-started things with a 9-2 blast in the first three minutes of the opening quarter, extending their lead to 10 points, 17-7, at the 4:42 mark thanks to naturalized player Ricardo Ratliffe.
But the Philippines got its footing for the remainder of the frame with Christian Standhardinger and Stanley Pringle towing their team to a narrower deficit, 22-18, at the end of the first 10 minutes.
The Filipinos picked up where they left off at the end of the first quarter, firing their way to open the second quarter behind Paul Lee, Jordan Clarkson and Mr. Standhardinger.
They overtook the Koreans, 25-24, with 6:30 left on the clock.
Korea though went on a 5-0 blast in the next minute to seize back the lead, 29-25.
Instead of folding, however, the Philippines took on the challenge, stepping up its game on both ends to fight back, going on a 12-2 run to build its biggest lead of the first half of six points, 37-31, with 3:37 left in the half.
The Koreans tried to fight back but the Filipinos would hold them off, taking a two-point advantage, 44-42, by the halftime break.
At the beginning of the third period, the Philippines started things by outgunning its opponent, 10-4, to stretch its lead to eight points, 54-42, by the 7:06 mark.
But another fight back by the Koreans saw it retake the lead, 64-62, with 1:27 remaining before a triple by Mr. Clarkson gave the advantage back to the Philippines, 65-64, heading into the fourth quarter.
Able to get some momentum, Korea rode it to get it going at the start of the fourth quarter.
Mr. Ratliffe, Junbeom Jeon and Sunhyung Kim were catalysts as Korea ran with an 86-74 lead with 2:38 left in the game.
The Philippines scrambled to make its way back but only managed to come within nine points, 89-80, with 41 ticks to go before bowing out.
Mr. Ratliffe, who had stints in the Philippine Basketball Association as a reinforcement, led Korea with a solid double-double of 30 points and 15 rebounds.
Mr. Kim and Ilyoung Heo each had 17 points while Seounghyun Lee finished with 11.
For the Philippines it was Mr. Clarkson who top-scored with 25 points with Messrs. Standhardinger and Pringle adding 16 and 14 points, respectively.
“We were just not comfortable with the zone. Even Jordan (Clarkson) had problems with the zone. They just zoned us all game long and we just could adjust on time. Korea played well especially in the fourth period but our players gave a great effort and I could not have asked for more from them,” said Philippine coach Yeng Guiao after the game.
The PBA-backed Philippine team now hopes to improve on its seventh place finish in the 2014 Asian Games in the consolation battle.
