Gilas give Euro champ France big scare in close loss

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas gave FIBA Euro champion France a big scare before dropping a close 75-68 loss Friday (Saturday in Manila) in the opener of the 2014 Antibes International Basketball tournament at the Azur Arena in Antibes, France.

Gilas was impressive hitting 12-of-29 from afar but could not connect when they needed most as France was able to snatch the win away with a 20-8 closing run in the final seven minutes.

Nicolas Batum poured in 12 points in the second half as he kept France afloat before his teammates got their acts together in the end.

After Jimmy Alapag hit Gilas’ 12^th three-pointer to push their lead to five, 60-55, France’s 6-11 center Joeffrey Lauvergne hit back-to-back baskets that touched off an 11-2 exchange as the hosts wrested control, 66-62.

Lauvergne took advantage of the absence of Phl’s naturalized center Andray Blatche, who rolled his ankle in the third quarter. Gilas coach Chot Reyes inserted back Blatche for the final push but the former Brooklyn Nets center was never the same again.

Lauvergne came off the bench to finish with 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting and added eight rebounds as starting center Boris Diaw played rusty in his first game since he helped San Antonio Spurs win the NBA title last June.

Diaw missed all of his four attempts and wound up with only one point but grabbed 10 rebounds and issued four assists. Batum had a double-double with the Portland Trail Blazers 6-8 wingman collecting 16 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two shot blocks.

Florent Pietrus, the older brother of NBA player Mickael, added 10 points while Antoine Diot manned the point well in the absence of San Antonio Spurs superstar Tony Parker, who will miss the world championships due to injury.

The 6-4 Diot made eight points, including a key three-pointer during France’s fiery fourth quarter rally, while adding five rebounds and six assists.  

France shot only 2-of-17 from the three-point distance but controlled the boards, 52-29, which they converted to a 38-20 dominance inside the paint to grind out the victory.

Despite the loss, Reyes liked what he saw from Gilas, who never backed down nor intimidated by the Eurobasket champion despite half of their roster filled with NBA players.

Nice effort tonight vs France. Need to keep improving & play better vs Australia tom

— Chot Reyes (@coachot) August 15, 2014

Is this France or an NBA team? pic.twitter.com/YuvtNRfi85

— Chot Reyes (@coachot) August 15, 2014

They were never in awe of France's NBA players and played hard basketball. Japeth Aguilar pumped Gilas up when he posterized Indiana Pacers center Ian Mahinmi in the early part of the opening quarter. Before the game, France hardly knew about the Philippines except for Blatche but after Aguilar's dunk, they knew they were in a dogfight against the silver medalist of the FIBA Asia zone qualifier. 

Blatche led Gilas with 12 points but shot only 5-of-17 from the floor.  He added seven boards, two assists and two steals before sitting out for much of the second half with sprained ankle. Paul Lee also hit 12 but could only make two of his four free throws in the final 1:47 that could have kept Gilas in the game.

Jeff Chan hit three from beyond the arc to finish with nine points while Jimmy Alapag and Ranidel de Ocampo combined for four triples and wound up with eight points apiece.

Gilas will play Australia next before wrapping up the weekend tournament against Ukraine on Sunday.  Gilas Pilipinas vs France will be aired at 5pm today (Saturday) on TV5.