Basketball: RP team succumbs to Lebanon

NATIONALS LOSE ANEW TO LEBANON

TAIPEI - The halftime music in the Powerade Team Pilipinas-Lebanon game -
the Eagles' "Take It Easy" - turned out to be a plea for mercy that echoed
before Fadi El-Khatib and company lowered the boom in the fourth quarter.

El-Khatib, the Lebanese leader, finished with 14 points and rode the
backseat to Dallas-born Brian Feghali and naturalized player Jackson Vroman
as Lebanon drubbed the Nationals, 95-83, Wednesday in the 31st William Jones
Cup tournament at the Hsinchuang gym here.

Feghali, who played three years for Louisiana State in the US NCAA, led
Lebanon with 29 points, including five 3-pointers, and 10 rebounds, while
Vroman, the replacement for Joseph Vogel, added 24 points with seven
rebounds, four assists, and five steals.

The Philippines outrebounded the Lebanese, 36-28, but turned the ball over
on 27 occasions, 12 more than the opposition.

"We just beat ourselves, and too many fouls were called on us," said
national coach Yeng Guiao, noting the RP team was awarded 15 free throws and
the Lebanese 32.

Flexing it muscle on the rare occasions it needed to, Lebanon moved up to
solo second behind unbeaten Jordan (4-0).

Three other teams - Iran, South Korea and host Taiwan - are tied at third to
fifth with 3-1 slates.

After dropping their first two games and beating Kazakhstan, the Nationals
lost their next two, falling to 1-4 just above Taiwan-B (1-5) and the
winless Kazakhs (0-5).

The RP team trailed 50-35 late in the second quarter on the strength of
Brian Feghali's outside shooting before James Yap closed out the first half
with seven straight points.

Behind Kerby Raymundo, the Nationals came back to narrow the gap at 59-57
midway in the third quarter before the veteran El-Khatib drained a
three-point shot to spark a 15-5 Lebanon run to end the RP uprising.

Four more games remain in the country's schedule, with South Korea, a
groupmate in the 25th FIBA Asia Men's Championship in Tianjin, China next
month, up next this Thursday.

In an earlier game, Jordan (4-0) kept an unblemished slate intact by
crushing previously unbeaten South Korea, 83-67, as Rasheim Wright scored 21
points and the defense forced the usually accurate Korean snipers (3-1) to
miss 20 three-point shots.

Before that, Iran (3-1), powered by 7-foot-3 Hamed Ehadadi, who had 18
points and 11 rebounds, routed Japan (1-3), 82-70, and later, Taiwan-B upset
Kazakhstan, 82-69, picking up its first win while handing the Kazakhs their
fifth straight setback.

The scores:

LEBANON 95 - Feghali 29, Vroman 24, El-Khatib 14, Fahed 11, Nour 9, Mahmoud
4, Turk 3, Kanaan 1.

POWERADE-RP 83 - Helterbrand 12, Raymundo 11, Yap 11, Pennisi 9, Santos 7,
Norwood 7, Aguilar 6, Baguio 4, Thoss 3, Taulava 3.

Quarterscores: 30-19; 50-42; 78-66; 95-73