Gilas bows to Japan, misses FIBA Asia Cup quarters

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas got outgunned by a well-oiled Japan basketball machine, absorbing a 102-81 blowout loss in their knockout match to miss the quarterfinal bus in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup in Jakarta, Indonesia late Tuesday.

The Filipinos were simply no match for both an offensively and defensively better Japan squad that even missed the services of its top star Yuta Watanabe — who plays for the Toronto Raptors in the NBA — in the third quarter. Watanabe twisted his ankle during a fast-break play that put him out of commission for the rest of the match.

With Watanabe checking out of the game with 15 points, diminutive sniper Yuki Togashi and Luke Evans picked up the scoring cudgels with 18 and 17 markers, respectively, for Japan, whose most glaring offensive advantage was going 23-of-25 from the free throw line (Gilas was only 8-of-12).

Bobby Ray Parks top-scored for Gilas with 16 points, while Kiefer Ravena and Carl Tamayo were the only other Philippine players in double figures with 15 and 10 markers, respectively.

Japan thus earned a quarterfinals berth and will go against powerhouse Australia, which topped Group A with an unbeaten record.

The Philippines, meanwhile, has been relegated to the classification phase.