MANILA, Philippines - Smart-Gilas Pilipinas are champions of the 34th William Jones Cup.
The Philippines' National Men's Basketball team bags the first gold medal in the William Jones Cup since 1998 after a come-from-behind win against the USA team, 76-75.
Photo from SMART-Gilas coach Chot Reyes.
Point guard L.A. Tenorio came up big in the final quarter, including the winning basket, that put Gilas ahead with under a minute left to play. Tenorio led the Gilas comeback after being down by as much as 13 points in the second half. He finished the game with 20 points.
The Philippine team was down by 11 at halftime, 34-23 but valiantly fought back in the second half to secure the victory.
Earlier, Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said he wanted to medal in the tournament but their main focus is building chemistry.
Reyes tweets a photo of the team after their victory. Despite winning gold, Reyes remains realistic, he says, "While we're happy, we have no illusions." He recognizes that they have yet to face the best national teams and Gilas 2.0 still has a long way to go. He adds thought that, "this wasn't easy and so we celebrate."
Congratulations team Philippines, Smart Gilas 2.0 for winning this years championship on William Jones Cup 34th Edition.
Game Highlights:
-LA Tenorio clutch shooting for Philippines with 20 points
-Come from behind win by Smart Gilas, down by 14 points in the 2nd half
-Philippines finished with a 7-1 record
-Jones Cup 2012 Champions, 1st championship since 1998
Now, let us again recognize the 16 member of this years Jones Cup winning team, the Smart Gilas Pilipinas member is listed as follows;
Players from PBA
Meralco: JR Reyes, Sol Mercado
Talk N Text: Ranidel De Ocampo, Larry Fonacier
Alaska: Sonny Thoss, LA Tenorio, Mac Baracael
Rain or Shine: Jeff Chan, Gabe Norwood
Ginebra: Enrico Villanueva
Powerade: Gary David
Amateur Player
San Beda: Garvo Lanete
Naturalized Player
Marcus Douthit
New Recruit
Matt Rosser (Fil-Am)
Source : Rappler
