The Philippines came up short against a taller Jordan quintet, yielding a 70-74 decision yesterday in the 29th William Jones Cup in Taipei.

Trailing throughout the game, the Filipinos fought their way back and trimmed the gap to two points twice in the fourth quarter only for Jordan to respond with clutch baskets.

It was the Philippines' third loss in five matches in the 10-team tournament.

More importantly, however, the Philippines got a feel of how it was playing against Jordan, which is in the RP group in the Fiba-Asia Championships, the qualifying round for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

Gabe Norwood scored five straight points, including a triple with 1:35 left that cut the Jordanians' deficit to, 70-68.

But the Jordanians weathered the storm with another close-range jumper, before the Filipinos' endgame woes, shades of their disappointing results against Japan and Lebanon, surfaced anew.

They could not buy a basket for close to a minute, while the Jordanians, who led by as many as 12 points in the opening-half, sealed the win from the free throw line.

Mark Caguioa led the Philippines with 25 points but his ill-advised triple late in the game hastened the Filipinos' downfall.*CPT

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