HONG KONG - After notching two straight victories, Ateneo de Manila and Adamson University, representing the Philippines at the 18th 3-D Gold Super Kung Sheung Cup, got its first rude test in international-style ball as it absorbed a stinging 80-72 defeat at the hands of China's Xin Cheng Holdings basketball team last night at the Queen Elizabeth Stadium here.
Acknowledging perhaps the Filipinos' superior individual talent for creating plays when being guarded man-to-man, the Chinese employed an impenetrable zone defense throughout the game, using their length and agility to cover the lanes, control the boards and deny the Filipinos any easy baskets or passes.
Xin Cheng also proved lethal offensively, burying the Filipinos with three-point shots from all corners and taking a commanding 40-24 lead at the half -- employing a style of play reminiscent of a circa 1990s South Korean team.
Unable to get easy points in the paint, the Filipinos turned to its outside shooters in the third quarter, who unfortunately fired blanks even as the Chinese continued to display near-perfect marksmanship from the three-point area, with the lead ballooning to as high as 20 points towards the end of the third quarter.
The Filipinos would not go down without a fight, however. Blue Eagle Kirk Long, who was shut down in the first half, found his range in the fourth quarter where he fired 14 points to stage a last-ditch effort to salvage the game. Adamson's Alex Nuyles also drained two straight threes in the closing minutes to inch them closer, but the Filipinos could not close out the rally as the Chinese managed to trade baskets with them in a virtual three-point shooting contest.
Kirk Long topscored with 26 points in the losing effort, with Ateneans Nico Salva and Oping Sumalinog adding 10 apiece. Adamson's Lester Alvarez, who waxed hot in their last game, was cold from outside and had difficulty creating plays amidst Xin Cheng's choking zone.
With the loss, the 'Blue Birds' ended up in second place in its group and will face an imposing Southern California Fukienese Association (SCFA) in the semi-finals on Saturday. SCFA, composed mostly of athletic and burly African-Americans, demolished Hong Kong's National Team later that night, 88-58, to top its group. Hong Kong will face Xin Cheng in the other semi-final pairing.
XCH 80 - Zhang J.B. 20, Yu X. 14, Weng D.L. 14, Zhang C. 7, Wang J.Y. 7, Huang Q.B. 4, Lin C.Y. 2
PHL 72 - Long 26, Salva 10, Sumalinog 10, Alvarez 8, Nuyles 6, Dela Cruz 5, Erram 5, Colina 2, Austria 0, Camson 0, Golla 0, Tiongson 0
- Ryan Asis Maniago
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