MANILA — Two Gilas Pilipinas teams fought in two separate Asian tournaments, both scraping past their rivals to emerge victorious Sunday night.
The Gilas squad in the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup in Beirut went on a 10-0 run late in the game to beat Jordan, 75-70, to end its campaign on a winning note after back-to-back blowout losses against South Korea and Lebanon.
Meanwhile, in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, the Gilas cadet team opened its defense of Philippines’ Southeast Asian Games basketball crown with a scary win over top rival Thailand, 81-74.
The victory over Jordan allowed the Filipinos to salvage some measure of pride as the Philippines finished 7th in the 16-nation biennial Asian tournament. Still, it was the worst finish for Gilas since 2009 when a team coached by NLEX coach Yeng Guiao placed eighth in Tianjin, China. The Philippines was the Asian tournament’s losing finalist in the last two editions of the tournament, losing to Iran in 2013 and to China in 2015.
On Sunday night, the Filipinos had some tense moments after Jordan, which trailed for most parts of the game, went on an 11-0 run to take a 70-65 lead with less than two minutes left. But Gilas responded with a 10-0 run of its own with 1:47 left to finally clinch the hard-fought victory.
Terrence Romeo and Matthew Wright led Gilas with 13 points apiece. Carl Bryan Cruz scored nine points while Japeth Aguilar had eight points and seven rebounds.
In Kuala Lumpur, Gilas Pilipinas pulled off a close win over the hard-fighting Thais before a predominantly pro-Filipino crowd at the MABA Stadium. Thailand outshot Gilas, 10-6, from the three-point arc, and won the rebounding battle, 50-42. However, Thailand committed 23 turnovers, which the Filipinos converted into 29 easy points.
Troy Rosario led Gilas with 16 points along with 10 rebounds. Fil-German Christian Standhardinger, coming off a stint with Gilas in the Fiba Asia Cup, finished with double-double 15 points and 10 boards but missed seven of his 14 free throws.
Rayray Parks tallied 14 points while Kiefer Ravena added 11 markers.
The Thais kept the game close through the brilliance of Thai-American Tyler Lamb, who scored a team-high 17 points, including huge baskets in the fourth quarter before he fouled out.
With Thailand leading, 71-69, with 4 minutes left, Ravena nailed two free throws, followed by a Baser Amer floater to give Gilas a 77-71 lead.
The Thais cut Gilas lead to three again, but Standhardinger scored on an Amer assist to give Gilas a five-point lead anew, 79-74, to finally quash the Thai challenge.
The Philippines next faces Myanmar Tuesday.
