CEBU, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas faces a must-win scenario as they take on Angola in Group A action of the 19th FIBA World Cup today (Sunday, August 27) at the Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City.
Game time is set at 8 pm.
The Philippines must hurdle two games to advance to the second round but the Pinoy ballers absorbed a stinging blow after coming up short against the Dominican Republic in their thrilling battle witnessed by a record-breaking 38,115 crowd that packed the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan to the rafters on Friday night.
Egged on by the thunderous cheers and electrifying shouts of home fans led by no less than president Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr., the highly motivated Gilas delivered a stellar performance that their fellow countrymen can surely be proud of.
Unfortunately though, the Nationals still falter in the end, dropping a heart-breaking 81-87 setback at the hands of the world no.23 team from the Caribbean.
With NBA star Jordan Clarkson at the cornerstone, the wards of coach Chot Reyes keep it close for most of the way, even taking a 72-69 lead on a pair of gift shots by the Utah Jazz mainstay with still 7:03 remaining in the close contest.
But that proved to be the last bright moment for Gilas as Andres Feliz and Antonio Peña knocked in back-to-back 3-pointers to spark a blistering 12-4 run that pushed the Dominicanos ahead by five, 81-76, with only three minutes left to play.
Gilas came threateningly close for one last time at 79-81 on free throws by Cebuano skyscraper June Mar Fajardo and AJ Edu with 1:54 remaining as the Dominican Republic, bannered by three-time NBA All-Star Karl Anthony-Towns of the Minnesota Timberwolves, rattled five straight points to virtually wrap up the match, 86-79, with 14.5 seconds to go.
Towns bulldozed his way to a solid double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds for the Dominicanos. He was ably backed up by Victor Liz with 18 points and six boards while Feliz chipped in 12 points, six rebounds and eight assists.
“We competed hard. Unfortunately, the disqualification of Jordan was really a big blow for us,” said coach Chot.
The 6-foot-5 guard Clarkson gave his all, topping Gilas with a game-high 28 points laced with seven rebounds and seven assists before fouling out at the final 3:22 mark.
“Sayang, kayang-kaya sana. Bawi na lang next game,” said the Pinamungajan, Cebu-native Fajardo, who made his presence felt with 16 points and seven rebounds on a perfect 5-of-5 shooting from the field and 6-of-8 from the foul line.
Dwight Ramos was the other double-digit scorer for Gilas with 13 points on top of six rebounds and two assists.
Now, Gilas has to deal with the Angolans, who are also itching to bounce back from their 67-81 defeat against world No.10 Italy also on Friday.
Gilas seeks vengeance of its 81-84 overtime loss to Angola at the 2019 FIBA World Cup in Foshan, China. The outcome could have gone either way had CJ Perez made his shot from beyond the arc with no time left in the regulation period.
In their expected grudge rematch, Gilas is hard-pressed to pull off a crucial victory to keep its flickering hopes of making it to the next stage of the quadrennial tournament alive.
Only the top two teams from each group will qualify for the second round. The bottom two teams will be relegated to the classification round where they will play for places 17-32.
Gilas will wrap up its elimination round campaign against world No.10 Italy on Tuesday, August 29. — (FREEMAN)