Ranidel De Ocampo’s finest enables Philippines beat Chinese Taipei 95-78 in FIBA
Asia Championship
Ranidel De Ocampo put up one of his very best performance and Marcus Douthit led all scorers in his team to guide Philippines to a remarkable win over Chinese Taipei 95-78 in Quarter-Finals round on Friday. With this victory Philippines
made their way into the Semi-Finals of the FIBA Asia Championship, where they will face team Jordan.
Philippines has qualified for the Semi-Finals after a very long time, as they last reached this level in 1987 and are now just couple of steps away from making their first ever appearance in the Olympics since 1972.
Thanks to De Ocampo, who clicked at the right time and steered the game away from gritty Chinese Taipei. The power forward tallied 18 points, clutched five rebounds and dished out three assists too. Out of his final stats in the
game, 12 points, three boards and two dimes came at a crucial time, as it spun the nine-point shortfall into a 54-48 lead and swung the pendulum in Philippines favours.
After the game a jubilant De Ocampo said, “If it’s not the best it’s definitely one of the best. I am just so happy to be playing at a FIBA Asia Championship, and I am so happy for my country.”
Douthit on the other hand, remained the best scorer of the game, wrecked 37 points and also clutched 10 rebounds plus one steal. This made things lot easier for Philippines and they cruised past Chinese Taipei.
Both teams showed aggression in the first quarter and it remained a see-saw situation, until Taipei pushed the paddle and seize the period with a 23-19 lead, despite of Douthit’s 10-point effort.
However, just when it looked that Chinese Taipei was close to pull a huge upset in the second quarter, De Ocampo appeared on the scene and changed the picture of the game. Joseph Casio ignited the 16-5 rally with his quick two
baskets and then De Ocampo carried it that gave Philippines a three-point lead (45-42) at the end of the first half.
De Ocampo and company carried the momentum in the third quarter as well as his quick first seven points in the period extended the gap further and Chinese Taipei started feeling the stress. By the time third quarter ended, team
Philippines was leading Chinese Taipei with a handsome lead of 13 points (70-57).
Chinese Taipei tried to pull the lead down with some quick possessions in the final quarter. However, this time Philippines had every answer to their question and they comfortably said farewell to the Chinese Taipei, when fourth
quarter finished.
According to De Ocampo the driving force behind their team’s success, was the support of their entire nation, which players were receiving from home.
He said, “I want to thank all the Filipino supporters and basketball fans. Nothing is impossible. We just have to keep praying and hoping that we make it to the finals.”
He also said that as far as Olympics are concerned, “You never know. Even though we are an undersized team we have the heart.”
From Chinese Taipei, Tseng Wen-Ting was the top scorer, made 20 points. Team-mates Chen Hsin-An (14 points) and Lin Chih-Chieh, scored 14 and 10 points respectively. These players kept trying until the last moment, but couldn’t
prevent Philippines from winning the game. Now Chinese Taipei will meet Iran in the classification round of the FIBA Asia Championship
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