RP cagers get back at Lebanon

The Philippines exacted revenge from Lebanon last night when it hammered out an exciting 88-83 triumph at the start of the Four-Nation Manila Invitational Basketball Tournament at the Arena in San Juan.

Slowly but surely adapting to the international brand of play, the Nationals proved too hot too handle from beyond the arc, where they made 15 out of 32 shots that eventually spelled the difference in the victory. And no one was hotter than Renren Ritualo, who bailed out the Filipinos just as Lebanon was also starting to spew fire from the three-point area in the final period.

Ritualo engaged the Lebanese big men in a shootout midway in the final period, keeping Chot Reyes' crew afloat as Lebanon came back from a 15-point halftime deficit.