Korea defeats Powerade Team Pilipinas, 83-80

Losses kept piling one after the other for Powerade-Team Pilipinas in the 31st William Jones Cup tournament.

South Korea was the latest to inflict a setback on the PBA-backed Nationals with an 83-80 win Thursday at the Hsinchuang gym in Taipei.

After blowing a 19-point second quarter lead to Japan, which is bracketed with the Philippines, South Korea and Sri Lanka in Group A of the 25th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship in Tianjin, China next month, the Nationals were looking to redeem themselves against one of the deadliest teams in the region.

They were within 78-76 following a Ranidel De Ocampo three-pointer and a Sonny Thoss turn-around jumper with one minute and 50 seconds remaining.

But Oh Se-Keun came out of timeout to bury a three-pointer – his first attempt from beyond the arc – with 1:25 remaining for an 81-76 lead, while Yang Dong-Geun negated Arwind Santos’ breakaway dunk with a leaning jumper against Willie Miller to make it 83-78 with 43 seconds to go.

The win lifted the South Koreans – who beat an all-amateur RP team in the semifinal of the 1986 Asian Games in Seoul and again in the 2002 Busan Asian Games semis on a buzzer-beating three-pointer – to a share of the lead with a 4-1 slate.

Team RP absorbed its fifth loss in six games.

“We shot a little better from last night and that’s the reason we were able to keep the game close," said national coach Yeng Guiao. “It’s good to be able to feel and study the Koreans because I think they will be our toughest competition in Tianjin."

The Philippines takes a break Friday before taking on Taiwan-B at 3 p.m. Saturday and winding up the campaign against Iran at 1 p.m. Sunday.

Meanwhile, the annual invitational tournament, held in honor of the International Basketball Federation’s (FIBA) founding secretary-general, was thrown into chaos when a bench-emptying brawl between Jordan and Iran resulted in the Jordanians walking out and forfeiting the match.

The forfeiture, ordered by a furious Mario Palma, the defending champions’ Portuguese coach, cost them their first loss after four lopsided victories that sent them into a four-way jam atop the standings with the Iranians, South Koreans and Lebanese.

“The Iranian player, he made a big aggression on our player," said a fuming Palma. “He hit our player in the head and then pushed him to the floor."

Palma was referring to Iran’s 7-foot-3 center Hamed Haddadi, who brought an elbow down the back of the head of Jordan’s Jamal Abu Shamala during a rebound play two minutes into the game with the Jordanians ahead, 2-0.

Shamala responded with an elbow of his own, hitting Ehadadi on the chest. The Iranian behemoth retaliated by grabbing Shamala in the head with two hands and throwing him down, bringing both teams into the fray.

The mercurial Palma also questioned why a Korean referee, who reportedly called a technical on a Jordanian player, has been assigned to officiate the game.

The Iranians were handed the game via a score of 20-0, which could proved critical in breaking ties.