Once again, when it comes to crunch time, Casio is the right brand. Former La Salle Green Archer JV Casio waxed hot in the final stretch as he helped his Smart Gilas team defeat Jordan, 91-80 in the finals of the Smart Philippine Invitational Challenge at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium last night.
Not even a knee injury he sustained a couple of months back could stop JV in delivering the goods when the team needs him to do so. He scored 12 of his 15 points late in the game as Gilas pulled away from the Jordanians for good. The team thus avenged an early tournament loss to this team, who will be playing in the World Championships this year.
Good luck to JV and Smart Gilas in their succeeding tournaments.
Box scores:
SMART GILAS 91—Baracael 22, Casio 15, Lassiter 10, Douthit 10, Lutz 9, Barocca 7, Aguilar 6, Slaughter 6, Tiu 6, Ababou 0.
JORDAN 80—Z. Abbas 25, Daghles 19, I. Abbas 18, Wright 9, Soobzokov 6, Hadrab 2, Alawadi 1.
Quarters: 19-22, 45-36, 63-all, 91-80