Halftime huddle does it for Gilas

MANILA, Philippines - What happens in the dugout stays in the dugout.

“You cannot print what I told them at halftime,” said Gilas Pilipinas head coach Chot Reyes following a morale-boosting 77-71 victory over Jordan the other night.

The Filipinos got off to a scary start against the Jordanians who enjoyed their biggest lead of 11 points in the opening half.

It must have brought back memories of the Philippines’ 75-61 loss to Jordan in the semis of the 2011 FIBA-Asia Championship in Wuhan, China.

The loss took the fight out of the Filipinos who went on to absorb a more painful 70-68 defeat against the South Koreans in the battle for third place.

Reyes must have said something nice or something nasty at his players during the 10-minute halftime break because they came out of the dugout a different team.

It didn’t take long for Gilas to erase a 38-33 deficit. After trailing, 42-36, they went on a blinding 17-0 run for a 53-42 lead.

The crowd got into the game and the Filipinos never relinquished the lead until the end.

“We made a couple of adjustments on defense and it enabled our players to see the floor a little better,” said Reyes.

“The key was the defense in the second half. We made the stops that allowed us to run,” he added.

Jayson William led the second-half onslaught with his shifty moves and strong drives to the basket and the rest of the Gilas players chipped in.

Reyes said William, more known as Jayson Castro, struggled in the first half but got going in the second.

And there was no stopping Gilas Pilipinas.