MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas came roaring back after a cold start before weathering a furious Japanese rally late in the game en route to a sparkling 89-84 victory over Japan Sunday night in the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Jayson Castro put an exclamation mark to the victory with a difficult floater with 10.1 seconds left that doused cold water on the rampaging Japanese who had managed to cut down a 15-point Gilas lead to just three, 87-84, with less than a minute left. Castro finished with eight points, including back-to-back three-pointers, all scored in the second half. Gilas coach Chot Reyes re-inserted Castro into the roster, along with Troy Rosario and Jio Jalolon, after missing the game against Australia Thursday due to an ankle sprain.
Gilas Pilipinas thus swept Japan in the new home-and-away Fiba tournament format, having earlier defeated the Japanese team, 77-71, in the first window of the tournament last November. Japan suffered a fourth straight defeat, eliminating the Japanese from contention for a berth in the 2019 Fiba World Cup in China.
The Philippines improved to a 3-1 win-loss record in Group B of the first round of the qualifiers, needing to win just one of its two remaining games to clinch a spot in the second round. Gilas Pilipinas faces Chinese Taipei in Taiwan on June 29 before squaring off with Australia once again, this time in a home game. Gilas defeated Chinese Taipei, 90-83, in an away game last Nov. 27 during the first window of the tournament.
Gilas Pilipinas earlier lost to Australia, 84-68 Thursday. The Filipinos will get back at Australia on July 2 in a home game.
Naturalized center Andray Blatche played his finest game for Gilas yet after a long while, finishing with team-highs of 18 points and 16 rebounds on top of four assists, two steals, and a block in 30 minutes of action.
Rosario added 14 points, including a couple of three-pointers, along with four rebounds. Kiefer Ravena came off the bench to chip in 13 points, two rebounds, five assists and two steals. Ravena sparked a Gilas comeback after Japan raced to a 20-4 lead. The youngest member of Gilas sparked a 17-2 Philippine run to cut down the Japanese lead to a point, 22-21, at the end of the first quarter.
Makoto Hiejima led Japan with 23 points, four rebounds, two assists, and two blocks, while naturalized player Ira Brown added 16 markers and eight boards.
PBA games Wednesday: TNT KaTropa Texters (4-6) vs. NLEX Road Warriors (6-4) and Rain or Shine Elasto Painters (5-4) vs. San Miguel Beer (8-2).
