MANILA, Philippines – For the second straight game, Gilas Pilipinas fought gallantly but it was not enough to topple the towering Greece.
The mighty Greeks, ranked no. 5 in the world, worked hard in carving out a rough 82-70 win against Gilas marred by a near scuffle in the endgame on Sunday night (early Monday Manila time) in the 2014 FIBA World Cup in Seville, Spain.
Coming off an easy 87-64 win against Senegal, Greece found Philippines a tough customer.
With the Greeks already cruising to a second straight win by a wide margin, Gilas made one last push in the final five minutes refusing to be blown out.
Gilas coach Chot Reyes was already thinking of the game against Argentina later in the day but the players did not want to rest including Andray Blatche, who was already dragging his feet as he was bothered by a knee injury he sustained against Croatia.
“I kept on asking my players, looked them in their eyes during the last five, four minutes when we're down by 12 to 13 points but they said, ‘last push’ including Andray,” Reyes told media in the post-game press conference.
For a while, the decision paid some dividends as they managed to chop down what was once a 17-point lead into a single digit with under a minute left.
LA Tenorio hit a three-pointer while Japeth Aguilar made a tip in to keep Gilas’ hopes alive, 76-68. But Memphis Grizzlies’ guard Nick Calathes quashed any hopes of a Gilas’ monumental comeback with a dagger trey in the final 21 seconds.
June Mar Fajardo scored inside as they tried to make it respectable but Kostas Kaimakoglou hit another triple to put an icing to a 12-point win for the Group B leader.
"If you told me before the start of the tournament that we would be able to stick with the No. 5 in the world in the Greek squad, I would've been very happy with that," Reyes said.
Despite their second straight loss, Gilas showed they can hang around and be competitive with the world's best teams.
"I'm crushed by the loss but I'm still very happy with the effort of my players," Reyes added.
With their shots not falling early on, Blatche and Fajardo, the only players standing 6’10” and above in the Gilas lineup, carried much of the fight.
Blatche finished with 21 points, 14 rebounds and three steals before limping off the court again. Fajardo, meanwhile, put up a solid effort off the bench with 10 points in 10 minutes that went with seven rebounds and two huge blocks in the fourth quarter that rocked the Greeks. Marc Pingris, the smallest power forward in the tournament at 6’6”managed to sneak in seven points and six rebounds.
Gilas shooters were bothered by the Greeks’ length as Jeff Chan, who made 17 points in the opener, finished with only a single three-pointer this time. The Filipinos shot 6-of-22 from the outside after making 10-of-25 against Croatia.
Greece built their 10-point lead in the opening half, 20-10 and 37-27, by pounding the smaller Gilas frontline. The Greeks made a living at the free throw line early on sinking 14 of 18 compared to the 5 of 6 awarded to the Filipinos.
But despite the huge disparity in the free throws and sour outside shooting of Gilas, the Greeks found it tough to put them away for good. Not until a 9-2 opening run in the third that Greece had wrested full control with its first 17-point lead, 46-29.
Greece’s 6-foot-9 Georgios Printezis led the European powerhouse with 25 points and eight rebounds while 7-foot-1 Giannis Bourousis, who shoved Gilas’ 5-foot-10 captain Jimmy Alapag in a heated moment during the customary post-game shaking of hands, came away with 21 points, 10 boards and three shot blocks.
The Gilas’ guards were bothered by the Greek’s length finding it hard to penetrate and set their dribble drive in motion.
Meanwhile, Milwaukee Bucks’ sophomore Giannis Antetkounmpo struggled in front of Gilas’ tough defense bricking his three attempts while bleeding for his three-point output in the free throw line.
Gilas will go for broke against Argentina, who suffered a five-point loss to Croatia earlier, in their 11:30 pm (Manila time) face-off.
The Scores:
Greece 82 – Printezis 25, Bourousis 12, Calathes 9, Papanikolaou 9, Zisis 8, Vasileiadis 6, Kaimakoglou 5, Antetkoumnpo 3, Sloukas 3, Vougioukas 2, Mantzaris 0, Glyniadakis 0.
Gilas 70 – Blatche 21, Fajardo 10, Pingris 7, Dalistan (Lee) 5, William (Castro) 5, Norwood 5, De Ocampo 4, Chan 3, Tenorio 3, Alapag 3, David 2, Aguilar 2.
Quarters: 20-10, 37-27, 58-45, 82-70.