Arakji spoils Clarkson's 27-point outing as Lebanon defends home vs Gilas

MANILA, Philippines — Wael Arakji spoiled the return of Jordan Clarkson to Gilas Pilipinas as he led Lebanon to an 85-81 win over the Philippines in their FIBA World Cup Qualifiers match-up at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Lebanon on Thursday (early Friday morning, Manila time).

Arakji converted on the dagger 3-pointer to give Lebanon a five-point lead, 83-78, with 18 ticks left.

The superstar guard caught the offensive board after Kai Sotto had a magnificent block on Ali Haidar. But Arakji's triple erased the youngster's efforts.

Though Clarkson split his freebies and tried to take a 3-pointer to get back into the game, the shots just did not fall for the Filipinos.

Gilas was actually on a hot start in the opening quarter when they led 9-2 in the early goings. Clarkson had 11 markers in just the first quarter.

But Lebanon slowly but surely regained their shooting touch and turnovers torched Gilas in the latter parts of the game.

Clarkson paced Gilas with 27 points, six rebounds and seven assists.

Dwight Ramos finished with a double-double with 18 points and 10 boards. He also had two assists and six steals.

Arakji finished with 24 points for Lebanon.

Gilas thus drops to 2-3 in the qualifiers. The team is already qualified for the World Cup due to the country hosting the tiff.

The Nationals hope to bounce back with Clarkson at the helm when they face Saudi Arabia on Monday, August 29, at the Mall of Asia Arena.