Must-win situation for Gilas

MANILA, Philippines — From a “moral” victory to an “actual” victory that counts in the grand scheme of things.

That’s what Gilas Pilipinas needs as it transitions from Friday’s fighting six-point loss to the Dominican Republic into its pivotal Day 2 duel against Angola tonight in the FIBA World Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The 8 p.m. tiff is a can’t-afford-to-lose assignment for the Nationals, whose bid for a trip to the second round was jeopardized when they yielded to the Karl-Anthony Towns-powered Dominicans in the Group A opener, 81-87.

“Sayang, kaya natin manalo. Bawi na lang next game,” said slotman June Mar Fajardo, one of the bright spots in the losing match witnessed by a new WC attendance record of 38,115 at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan.

There were lots of positives in that historic outing that Gilas hopes to bring into the matchup with Angola, who themselves are in a must-win predicament after conceding a 67-81 setback to Italy on kickoff night.

Gilas went toe-to-toe with Towns and the 23rd-ranked Dominicans and even held a 72-69 lead at the halfway mark of the fourth. But the hosts’ fortunes changed when top gun Jordan Clarkson was whistled for his fifth and last foul while attacking the basket against Victor Liz at the 3:32 mark.

“We played well. We gave ourselves a chance to win,” said Clarkson, who finished with 28 markers but had eight turnovers before fouling out.

“Some calls didn’t go our way, but that’s part of the game. We just can’t leave it in the refs’ hands to make those plays in the end. We’ll come back and try to get the next one. Just keep competing like we did now.”

Ranked one notch lower at 41st than the Philippines, Angola is seen as Gilas’ best chance to extract a win from in the tough group. But the Africans showed they’re a tough customer, too, pushing the Italians to the limit before fading in the final canto.

“Angola pressures the ball just as much as Dominican,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes.

“We have to make adjustments in our offense because tonight (versus DR), we had 19 turnovers and we gave up 17 offensive rebounds. That was it. We have to make sure that we’re able to cope with the defensive pressure of Angola.”

Fajardo and his frontcourt buddies AJ Edu, Kai Sotto and Japeth Aguilar are in for another hard task with 6-foot-10 Bruno Fernando of Atlanta leading Angola’s bigs.

The guard line led by Scottie Thompson, Kiefer Ravena and fresh CJ Perez is also expected to get busy trying to contain pocket-sized gunner Childe Dundao, who torched Italy with four triples and 19 points.

Loser of the Philippines-Angola tussle virtually gets the boot in the race for the next round.

Meanwhile, the Azzurri and the Dominicans battle for control of Group A in the curtain-raiser at 4 p.m.