Powerade Team Pilipinas had another gangbuster start in the fourth game in the 31st William Jones Cup, but Japan survived the opening onslaught and held on for an 87-85 victory. The Nationals blitzed the Japanese early for a 27-15 lead at the end of the third quarter, but Japan capitalized on their turnovers to force a tight game the rest of the way.

I was only able to catch the fourth quarter, which started with the score tied at 61. Japan leads the tournament in waxed eyebrows, layered haircuts (with highlights!), and metrosexual players. The Philippines, on the other hand, only had James Yap to carry the torch for our side in these departments. Japan also had long, athletic players who gave our ballhandlers fits, and disrupted our offense enough to force a couple of turnovers and prevent us from executing our halfcourt sets.

Despite shooting miserably from the outside in the fourth quarter, Powerade Team Pilipinas remained in striking distance, being down 3 points with 19 seconds remaining. Japeth Aguilar’s dunk off a Willie Miller miss cut the lead down to 1, but Kerby Raymundo gave up a three-point play at the other end that pushed the Japan lead back to 4 with 7 seconds remaining. In the ensuing inbounds play, Jared Dillinger made a picturesque 26-footer from left quartercourt that cut the lead back down to one. Japan then split their free throws, giving our boys one last chance to tie or win the game with 4 seconds remaining. Alas, it wasn’t meant to be, as Japan foiled Jayjay Helterbrand’s last second attempt from beyond the arc.

Japan is in our bracket for the preliminary round of the Fiba-Asia tournament. The team has been together for a while, even playing our Smart Gilas Developmental Team back in May. But Japan has also been a team in turmoil, after two of its best players, Yuta Tabuse and Takuya Kawamura, left the team to pursue opportunities abroad, while their erstwhile coach, American David Hobbs, abruptly left the team in controversial fashion.

Powerade Team Pilipinas, on the other hand, is still a work in progress, and while our outside shooting and halfcourt offense still need improvement, we’ve shown an ability to get out and run. After this game, I’m confident that we should be able to beat Japan handily come August.