Gilas rewards rabid home crowd with gritty win vs Jordan in OT
Games Sunday (Mall of Asia Arena)
2 p.m. – New Zealand vs Syria
5 p.m. – Australia vs Jordan
8 p.m. – Philippines vs Iran
MANILA, Philippines — “Barangay Gilas” heeded the call and came out, roaring and cheering every move of its beloved national basketball team — even when things looked hopeless against sizzling Jordan early on.
The Nationals needed their “Sixth Man” more than ever in this testy FIBA World Cup Qualifiers as they spent all their energy and effort battling against severe adversity without Justin Brownlee, their main guy.
From 18 down, the gritty Filipinos fought their way back to the pivotal Group E tussle and gave themselves a fighting chance to steal this one from the full-strength Falcons.
And that’s all they needed.
With CJ Perez, Kai Sotto and Kevin Quiambao taking charge, Gilas hammered out a thrilling 82-81 overtime victory in a fitting reward for their 45-minute blue-collar work and their supporters’ tireless cheering for over two hours on a rainy Friday at the Mall of Asia Arena.
In his celebrated return from a two-year absence, Sotto delivered an 18-14 double-double to lead Gilas. He capped his heroics with a game-saving block on Abdullah Olajuwan’s potential game-winner in the dying seconds of extra time.
Perez added 16, making a bunch of them in the stretch as Quiambao shot 14, none bigger than the booming triple that put the Philippines ahead, 82-79, with 11.7 seconds left in OT. Dwight Ramos matched KQ’s output as Gilas filled Brownlee’s shoes with a collective effort.
The win snapped the Nationals’ four-game skid in the Qualifiers, improving their record to 3-4 for 10 points in Group E. The Falcons dropped to 5-2.
Meanwhile, unbeaten Australia continued its rampage and extracted its seventh straight win at the expense of Syria, 123-64.
Elijah Pepper rifled in 32 spiked by eight triples as the Boomers firmed up their hold of pole position with 14 points. The Syrians stayed at the cellar of the six-team group at nine points on 2-5.
In the day’s opener, New Zealand survived a tight duel with Iran that went to extra time, 93-91.
The Tall Blacks picked up their fifth consecutive victory dating back to the first round for 5-2 overall as they stayed in the Top 3 at 12 points.
The scores:
Philippines 82 — Sotto 18, Perez 16, Ramos 14, Quiambao 14, Edu 9, Tamayo 8, Fajardo 2, Thompson 1, Gomez de Liano 0, Newsome 0, Baltazar 0
Jordan 81 — Ibrahim 22, Harris 19, Olajuwon 17, Saleh 5, Al Dwairi 4, Alshami 4, Hamarsheh 4, Hawwas 3, Kilani 2, Salman 1, Shaher 0,
Quarterscores: 14-28, 39-44, 58-54, 72-72, 82-81
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