Gilas grinds it out

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 SM MOA Arena.

In his celebrated return from a two-year absence, Sotto delivered a 18-10 double-double to lead Gilas. He capped his heroics with a game-saving block on Abdullah Olajuwon’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.

In the day’s opener, New Zealand survived a tight duel with Iran that went to extra time, 93-91.