MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas inched closer to the FIBA Asia Cup next year after sweeping Group B following a 93-54 drubbing of Hong Kong.
Gilas thus finished the February and November windows undefeated through four games to enhance its bid for next year’s continental tourney in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
Five Filipinos scored in double digits led by Carl Tamayo, who top-scored for the team with 16 points, and had five rebounds and an assist. He shot 7-of-14 from the field, including 2-of-4 from deep.
June Mar Fajardo contributed 14 points and eight rebounds, while Justin Brownlee finished with 13 markers, three boards and three dimes. Kai Sotto recorded 12 points and 15 rebounds, while CJ Perez chipped in 10 markers.
With Hong Kong trailing by just nine, 38-47, in the third quarter after a trey by Leung Shiu Wah, Gilas started to erupt.
A 7-0 Philippine run capped by a triple by Scottie Thompson pushed the lead to 16, 54-38, before a pair of free throws by Yiu Pong Yip halted the blitz.
The Nationals, though, retaliated with a backbreaking 13-0 salvo that broke the game wide open, 67-40, which was only broken by a last-second trey by Oliver Xu.
Gilas kept their foot on the gas pedal in the fourth, outscoring 26 to 11 as the lead continued to grow. The 39-point advantage at the end was the game's largest.
Shiu Wah Leung and Xu had 11 and 10 markers, respectively, for the visiting team.
The Philippines connected on 39 of their 81 shot attempts, good for 48.1%. Hong Kong made 20 of their 65 shots.
“We didn’t play a real great first half. It was a struggle for us in the first half, they were getting open threes and shooting them. That was a concern we have, obviously, over this window because we’ve been giving up a lot of 3-point shots,” Gilas head coach Tim Cone said.
“Second half, I felt we came out and we got to the shooters a little better, we scrambled a little bit more… Offensively, we moved the ball a lot better in the second half. I think we only had nine assists in the first half and we had 15 in the second half. When the ball moves, I think everybody feels like they’re involved and that carries over to the defensive side as well. And, we started defending better,” he added.
It is a repeat of what happened in the first window, when the Nationals, back in February, won 94-64 against Hong Kong.
Last Thursday, November 21, the Philippines stunned New Zealand – the first time they triumphed against the country in five games.
Hong Kong ended the group stage without a win in four games. New Zealand and Chinese Taipei will still battle on Monday in Christchurch.
While they finished the second window still with a 4-0 slate, the Filipinos will still need New Zealand to defeat Chinese Taipei on Monda to formalize their entry to the FIBA Asia Cup.
Currently, New Zealand has a 2-1 win-loss slate, while Chinese Taipei is at 1-2.
The top two teams of each group will have a direct qualification to the Asia Cup in Saudi Arabia next year.