Angola seeks stronger finish vs Gilas

MANILA, Philippines -- The Angolan national team is eyeing to have a better final quarter in their FIBA World Cup game against Gilas Pilipinas at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday.

Angola went toe-to-toe with a heavily favored Italy squad in their opening game Friday at the Philippine Arena in the three quarters.

Angola trailed by just four, 57-61, at the end of the third quarter.

But they ran out of gas in the fourth as they just managed to score just 10 points in the final frame.

At a press conference, Angola’s Antonio Monteiro said they have to finish stronger against Gilas.

“We have to take these lessons… for the next game and do not put our heads down because we play in two days,” Monteiro told reporters.

“We gotta go stronger for the next game,” he added.

Gilas and Angola both have a 0-1 win-loss slates.

The former dropped its first game against the Dominican Republic by six points, 87-81.

Angola’s Pep Carlos, meanwhile, said that the team should be more focused in the next games.

Carlos said that the team should have better character in the coming days.

“I think we lacked strong character in the final minutes. When you face a team better than you, it is clear that the only way to win is to give more,” he said.

“[We have] to play harder and to never give up.”