MANILA, Philippines – Guest team Smart-Gilas Pilipinas clinched an outright semifinal berth as it survived a late comeback by Barangay Ginebra with a 111-104 victory in the PBA Commissioner’s Cup Wednesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.

Still bothered by a left sprained ankle, naturalized player Marcus Douthit returned after missing their last game as he scattered 30 points with 17 rebounds, leading the Nationals to their seventh win with eight games.

The 6-foot-10 Douthit sustained the injury in a 98-90 overtime defeat to BMeg Derby Ace last week. He did not play against Powerade last Sunday.

The 7-1 card not only gave the national team solo lead anew in the standings, but more importantly, it pushed Smart-Gilas to the best-of-five semifinal series.

The national team, which is preparing for the FIBA-Asia Champion in Wuhan, China in September – the qualifying event for the 2012 London Games--dictated the tempo early as it led by 18 points, 42-24, on a triple by Casio, 6:57 left in the second period.

However, Ginebra battled back behind rookie playmaker Robert Labagala, who had an impressive PBA debut as he scored eight points highlighted by two three-pointers and finished with eight points while orchestrating Ginebra’s offense with aplomb.

The last time the Kings threatened was when they cut the deficit to five points, 88-93, on a jumper by Willie Wilson with four minutes to play.

Smart-Gilas answered with a jumper by Douthit, and after a traveling violation by Labagala, Marcio Lassiter made two of three free throws when he was fouled by Willie Miller while trying a shot from the three-point area for a 97-88 advantage, 2:43 remaining.

Lassiter scored 15 of his 21 points in the first period, while JV Casio, the hero in their 98-97 win against Powerade last week, had 16 points.

Chris Lutz finished with 15, while Mac Baracael and Japeth Aguilar had 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“We played a great game, Marcus was coming back. But we still had some problems. Our problem was Chris Tiu,” said Smart-Gilas Serbian head coach Rajko Toroman of Tiu, who was in uniform but did not play due to a bruised left shoulder.

The scores:

First Game

Smart Gilas 111 — Douthit 30, Lassiter 21, Casio 16, Lutz 15, Baracael 11, Aguilar 10, Slaughter 4, Ramos 2, Barroca 2, Ababou 0.

Ginebra 104 — Brumfield 21, Miller 21, Caguioa 21, Wilson W. 11, Hatfield 10, Labagala 8, Cortez 5, Villanueva 4, Mamaril 2, Tubid 1, Aquino 0, Intal 0.

Quarters: 29-13, 52-40, 79-69, 111-104.

Waylon Galvez, Manila Bulletin