MANILA, Philippines -- The three-week old Gilas Pilipinas national pool had a rude awakening in Estonia after they got beaten black and blue by Netherlands in an ugly 62-89 loss early Friday morning (Manila time) at the start of the 2015 Toyota Four Nations Cup.
Gilas came out flat at the start of the second half as the Dutch outscored them, 29-4, in the third quarter. That ugly third quarter took the fight out from Gilas as they fell by the wayside to the Orange Lions, who are making their comeback in the EuroBasket in more than two decades.
Only Calvin Abueva scored in double figures for Gilas with 12 points and six boards as the whole team struggled from the field making only 17 of their 42 shot attempts including 4-of-23 clip from the three-point zone.
Naturalized big man Andray Blatche typified Gilas' shooting woes as he only shot 2-of-6 finishing with only seven points despite pulling down a game-high 12 rebounds.
The Orange Lions, on the other hand, were 30-of-46 from the floor led by their twin towers 6'11" Roeland Schafternaar and 7'1" Henk Norel, who hit 15 and 12 points, respectively.
Gilas actually had a good start as they opened up a 15-9 lead in the opening quarter. But the taller and more conditioned Dutch team came back to grab a slim 21-20 lead.
Coach Tab Baldwin missed the services of Ranidel de Ocampo (hamstring), Dondon Hontiveros, and Jc Intal due to injuries while Fil-Tongan Moala Tautuaa sat out due to the 12-player limit.
Gilas will attempt to bounce back against the host nation Estonia on Saturday at 1 a.m. which will be livestreamed over Sports5.ph.