Smart-Gilas Pilipinas players whoop it up after beating the Taiwanese, 82-73 at the close of the elimination round of the basketball competion in the 16th Asian Games. (Photo by BOB DUNGO JR.)GUANGZHOU — The Smart Gilas national team outgunned Chinese-Taipei, 82-73, Monday to set up a keenly-awaited quarterfinal showdown with South Korea in the 16th Asian Games.Manila Bulletin

The Nationals beat the Taiwanese in their own game, firing eight three-point shots, three each from Chris Tiu and Marcio Lassiter while holding them to just 6 of 27 shooting from that distance.

Prior to the match, Chinese-Taipei fired 50 three-pointers against four teams, including a high of 20 against India.

It marked the first time the Nationals failed to hold their opponents under 70 points, but shot 53 percent from the field after averaging 42 percent in the first five matches.

Against Smart Gilas’ relentless full-court defense, the Taiwanese struggled to get into a scoring rhythm, making only three in 13 attempts in the first half.

Lin Chih Chieh, Taipei’s top gunner with 21 points, was held down to five points in the second half where the Filipinos made their move.

Asi Taulava poured eight of his 18 points in a 16-6 run as the Filipinos turned a two-point deficit into a 60-52 lead with 3:31 left in the third quarter.

The Filipinos posted their biggest lead at 71-56 early in the fourth quarter before Taipei made its final run, cutting the deficit to just six points, 69-75, with three minutes remaining.

Unable to set up well against Gilas’ aggressive defense, the Taiwanese turned to playmaker Lee Hsueh Lin who had six free throws and a fastbreak point during that stretch.

But Tiu, who had 15 points on 5-of-9 from the field, made a huge three-point shot, drawing a foul from Taiwan center Wu Tai Hao, his fifth. Tiu completed the four-point play to give Gilas a 79-69 edge with 1:51 remaining.

After a Taiwan turnover, Marnel Baracael put the final nail on Taiwan’s coffin with a three-point play with 44 seconds left.

Lin, struggling against the defense of Kelly Williams, scored the last basket of the game with a layup.

“We knew they wanted to penetrate and then kick out the ball to the short shooters. We had to avoid that and we pushed them to shoot three-pointers which they didn’t do well,” said Rajko Toroman, the Serbian coach of Gilas.

The Filipinos limited their turnovers to 13 after averaging 20 in their last three outings while crushing the boards, 41-27, including a 14-5 edge off the offensive glass.

Taulava and Williams combined for 25 rebounds, including nine that gave the Filipinos an 18-6 advantage in second chance points.

Marcio Lassiter, who had a welt near his right eye, matched Taulava’s 18 points while Baracael made 11 points off the bench.

Lee admitted the team panicked toward the end that resulted in missed hurried three-point shots.

“We didn’t think too much. Actually, we were too in a hurry to think of anything. All we could do was to keep moving ahead. There’s no turning back for us. We had to win,” said Lee who played the entire game, shooting 19 points.

Overall, Toroman was happy.

“It was a very difficult match in a very difficult group. We didn’t deserve to be out and we didn’t deserve to be in this group. I’m very satisfied. It’s very important for us,” said Toroman.

Solomon Mercado, the Rain or Shine quarterback nursing foot injuries, showed up in uniform but did not see action for the third straight game.

The scores:

PHILIPPINES 82 — Taulava 18, Lassiter 18, Tiu 15, Baracael 11, Williams 8, Casio 7, Lutz 3, Barroca 2

CHINESE -TAIPEI 73 — Lin 21, Wu 20, Lee 19, Mao 7, Hung 5, Chien 1, Yang 0, Tien 0, Chen S.N. 0, Chen S.H. 0, Chou 0

Quarters: 20-21, 42-40, 64-54, 82-73

Games Wednesday (Huangpu gymnasium)

1:15 p.m. — South Korea vs Smart Gilas-PH

3:30 p.m. — Japan vs North Korea

7:15 p.m. — Iran vs Jordan

9:30 p.m. — China vs Qata