Gilas Pilipinas salvages seventh place in FIBA Asia Cup

Gilas Pilipinas salvages seventh place in FIBA Asia Cup

Gilas Pilipinas salvages seventh place in FIBA Asia Cup
PBA

Gilas Pilipinas salvages seventh place in FIBA Asia Cup

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GILAS Pilipinas ended its campaign in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon, on a winning note, beating Jordan, 75-70, last night to salvage a seventh place finish in the high-profile continental basketball tournament.

Relegated to the classification matches after bowing out in the quarterfinals last week, the Philippine men’s national basketball team exited on a high but not after having made to sweat by a highly determined Jordanian team.

Both teams fought it tight in the opening quarter, exchanging runs and leads en route to finishing the period all knotted up at 17-all.

The nip-and-tuck affair spilled over in the second canto as the protagonists refused to budge and give way.

They fought to a 27-all stalemate up to the 2:15 mark of the quarter before Gilas went on an 8-0 blast, on three-pointers by Jayson William and Terrence Romeo and a deuce from Calvin Abueva, the rest of the way to take a 35-27 lead at the halftime break.

Jordan, however, would come out more spirited in the third frame, outscoring Gilas, 26-23, in the quarter to slice its deficit to just five points, 58-53, entering the final canto.

With the outcome still very much open, both teams jockeyed to seize momentum to start the payoff period.

Jordan scored four quick points in the opening minute to trim Gilas’ lead to one point, 58-57.

But the Philippines would answer back with a 7-2 run in the next three minutes to create some distance anew, 65-59, at the 5:24 mark.

Just as the Philippines was seemingly on its way to putting the game out of reach of its opponent, Jordan would go on an 11-0 blast to turn things around and seize the lead altogether from Gilas, 70-65, with 1:47 remaining on the clock.

Sensing that they were on a verge of a big-time collapse, the Filipinos dug deep to claw their way back.

June Mar Fajardo cut Jordan’s lead to four points with a free throw before Mr. Romeo hit a triple off an offensive rebound from Japeth Aguilar to push Gilas to within a solitary point, 70-69, with 57 seconds left.

After a tough stand on defense, Mr. Aguilar gave back the lead to the Philippines, 71-70, with an inside jab.

Matthew Wright hit two free throws thereafter following an inbound violation by Jordan to extend their lead to three, 73-70, with 13 seconds to go.

RR Pogoy sealed the Gilas victory when he stole the ball midcourt from their opponents, who were angling for a game-tying three-pointer, and finished the game with a layup.

Mr. Romeo finished the game with 13 points and four rebounds while Mr. Wright also had 13 markers.

Carl Bryan Cruz had nine points while Mr. Castro had eight points and eight assists.

Mr. Aguilar had eight points, seven rebounds and two blocks for Gilas, which played their last game without Christian Standhardinger who left early to join the Gilas team that is seeing action in the 29th Southeast Asian Games in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Mousa Alawadi was the high-pointer for Jordan with 21 points. Mohammad Hussein had 13 while Ahmad Alhamarsheh finished with 12 points.

The seventh place finish by the Philippines came on the heels of runner-up finishes in last two stagings the tournament formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo