Gilas routed anew, bows to Serbia

MANILA, Philippines (Updated 9:54 p.m.) — Despite bringing a tougher fight early in the game, Gilas Pilipinas couldn't overcome Serbia in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, suffering a 126-67 blowout in their Group D matchup in Foshan, China on Monday.

The Filipino cagers had a better start after a dismal outing in the opening canto against Italy last Saturday.

Against Serbia Monday night, Gilas even led briefly in the first quarter, 9-7.

But the Serbians were quick to put out any hopes of an upset with big buckets of their own when Gilas had any scoring runs.

Miroslav Raduljica and Nemanja Bjelica led the way for the Serbians in a balanced team effort that kept the Filipinos at bay.

Bogdan Bogdanovic also led a third quarter run that all but sealed the deal for Serbia.

Blejica was the top-scorer for Serbia, with 20 points. Bogdanovic also chipped in with 17.

Raduljica finished with 13.

Paul Lee and June Mar Fajardo were bright spots for Gilas in the lopsided loss.

Rookie CJ Perez also played well for the FIlipino squad.

Perez scored 16 for GIlas while Lee had 15. 

Fajardo chipped in with eight.

Gilas Pilipinas is now out of contention with Group D teams Italy and Serbia already with two wins each.