Gilas succumbs to Korea, enters tougher road to gold

INCHEON, South Korea – The ghost of Busan came to haunt the Philippines.

Gilas Pilipinas squandered a 16-point lead in the second half as Korea came from behind to score a 97-95 stunner on Saturday at Samsan World Gymnasium here.

Naturalized player Taejong Moon shone brightest for Korea as he personally carried his team back with his counterpart Marcus Douthit agonizingly watched from the bench for disciplinary reasons.

Moon scored eight straight points in less than a minute then Yang Heejong added five including the dagger trey with 31.9 seconds left that brought back the memories of the Busan heartbreaker.

Yang scored inside and added the biggest 3-pointer that gave Korea a four-point cushion, 93-89.

Jimmy Alapag and Ranidel de Ocampo missed their outside shots as Gilas fell on their knees.

"The entire responsibility falls on my shoulders. I want to apologize to our people," Gilas coach Chot Reyes said.

Gilas took a 16-point lead, 68-52, behind a hot shooting from outside. They led from start until Moon took over.

"Today we got the 16pt lead with our 3pt shooting. But that's the danger. You live and die by it. That's basketball," Reyes said.

Korea went on a 19-4 closing run to to close the gap, trailing by just one point, 72-71, entering the fourth quarter.

Moon finished with 38 points, six boards and four assists. He shot 6-of-8 from beyond the arc.

Jimmy Alapag carried the fight for Gilas with 25 points but cramped up in the crucial stretch while LA Tenorio chipped in 20 points.

Gilas built a seven-point halftime lead, 51-44, behind 11 triples that silenced a big Korean crowd.

It was Gilas' third straight loss and it came on the heels of Douthit being benched for disciplinary reasons. That disciplinary action, according to Reyes, is only for this game, but he said they will talk again tonight.

Reyes called out Douthit for “quitting” on the team in a shocking defeat to Qatar Friday.

Saturday’s loss brought back memories of the Philippines’ defeat to the same squad in the semifinals of the 2002 Busan Asian Games, which the Filipinos interestingly extinguished when they got back at Korea in the semifinals of the 2013 FIBA Asia Cup.

It also placed Gilas in a deeper hole as the chance to land the elusive Asiad basketball gold medal is now out of their hands. They would need victories by Korea and Kazakhstan over Qatar – which beat the Philippines Thursday – and also gun for a win over the Kazakhs Sunday to force a three-way tie in the standings heading to the semifinals.

The Filipinos are still licking their wounds in close setbacks to powerhouse Iran and Qatar, and entered Saturday’s tussle against Korea with their backs against the wall.