MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas’ esports team, eGilas, fell to Portugal in the bronze medal match, 2-1, to finish at fourth place for the second straight year in the eFIBA World Finals.
The team composed of Isaiah “Ice2Fast” Alindada, Kenneth “Clue” Gutierrez, Julian “Social” Mallillin, Prich “DonPriich” Diez and Lynard “ZavaLCB” Banzon competed offline at the SMX Convention Center in Clark, Pampanga. It had a good run at the group stages, finishing second in Group A with wins against fierce rival New Zealand, whom they swept 2-0.
The Filipino squad then secured a win against European powerhouse Turkey, dispatching the team in a 2-0 sweep, avenging its defeat in last year's bronze-medal match-up and securing their slot in the semifinals.
The team’s hopes of finishing at the top of the group, however, was thwarted by Brazil, which gave the Filipinos their first lost in the tournament, 0-2, to become Group A's second seed. This pit them against Team USA in the semifinals.
The eventual world champion easily dispatched eGilas with a 2-0 sweep in the semifinals, with both games ending up with double-digit margins (46-67, 60-73) as the Filipinos were relegated to the bronze medal match.
Against Portugal, eGilas hoped to give themselves the winning momentum with a Game 1 win, 56-51, but the Portuguese forced a decider with a dominant display in Game 2, 45-57.
An intense Game 3 saw eGilas trailing behind by five points in the last minute. Hope was rekindled as Isaiah “Ice2Fast” Alindada made a needed 3-pointer, but the Portuguese played their cards right, not letting possession go with the remaining time to have their two-point lead, which was enough to secure the bronze finish.