Kai Sotto a game-time decision for Gilas due to injury

MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas big man Kai Sotto is free from a rib fracture scare after getting hurt against Georgia in their FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament matchup Thursday, Philippines head coach Tim Cone bared.

Sotto seemingly sustained an upper body injury in the second quarter of the game.

With Gilas down 20 points, 40-20, the 7-foot-3 center went up for a floater, which he made.

Sotto, however, was fouled by Joe Thomasson, and Goga Bitadze, who challenged the shot, fell on the 22-year-old.

He then grimaced in pain as he left the court shortly after.

This incident started Gilas’ comeback, which saw them take the lead in the third quarter.

The Nationals eventually lost, 98-96, but they still made the semifinals of the OQT as they needed to win or lose by less than 18 points.

In a Viber message, Cone said Sotto had “no rib fractures.”

“[Sotto is a] game-time decision,” he told Philstar.com.

The starting pivot man only had four points in 11 minutes and 49 seconds of play.

He made just two of his five field goals and recorded a +- of -20.

Despite his struggles against Georgia, he came up big against the world no. 6 Latvia, finishing with 18 points, eight rebounds and an assist.

In the postgame press conference, Cone said that while Sotto exited the game, the rest of the team made up for it.

“The fact is, we lost him but still fought our way back in the game,” he said.

“That's a really good bench production from Carl Tamayo and CJ Perez and Kevin Quiambao and Japeth Aguilar, our veteran, our captain, really stepped into the void and gave us big minutes in what would've been Kai's minutes,” he added.

Gilas will surely need Sotto in the semifinal match against Brazil, which is spearheaded by current Golden State Warrior Gui Santos, along with former NBA players Cristiano Felicio, Bruno Caboclo, Marcelo Huertas and Raul Neto.

Final Four play will tip off on Saturday.