SoKor deals Gilas another heartbreaker

MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas fell into a five-minute scoreless spell in the payoff period that spelled doom as Asian rival South Korea hacked out a big 82-70 win on Monday to break its own two-game losing streak in the Annual William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

The Koreans dropped an 11-0 bomb on hapless Gilas in the early moments of the fourth quarter that broke a 58-all deadlock and took a 69-58 lead. It was all they needed to break the hearts of the Filipinos once again -- their second straight victory -- since losing to the Philippine side in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship semifinals in Manila two years ago. 

Gilas turned the ball over six times and missed their five field goal attempts during that dry spell. 

Seunghyun Lee hit 19 points including the dagger trey inside the final minute while naturalized player Tae Young Moon, taking over the spot of his older brother Tae Jong Moon, had 17 to lead the Jones Cup defending champions. 

Terrence Romeo, who once again dazzled the crowd, danced his way to a game-high 23 points that went for naught.  His three-pointer and Calvin Abueva's two free throws kept Gilas within a striking distance, 70-76, with 1:20 left.  Then Lee hit the killer triple. 

Gilas, playing without naturalized big man Andray Blatche, fought the Koreans on equal footing in the first three quarters behind the guns of Gary David, who hit 16 points, Romeo and Abueva. 

It was a sorry loss for Gilas, who had a rousing debut on Sunday night beating host Chinese Taipei's national team, 76-69.

Romeo and Abueva took turns in hurting the Koreans in the third with their daredevil drives as Gilas the lead. 

Romeo heaved a high-looping floater against Korea's 7-foot-3 center Seungjin Ha while Abueva struck inside that put the Filipinos on top, 47-44, in the three-minute mark of the third period. 

Romeo traded four-point plays with the Koreans then David continued to wax hot outside, his third triple giving Gilas a four-point advantage, 54-50. The Phl side curiously were held scoreless the moment Romeo and Abueva took a breather almost two minutes into the payoff period. 

Gilas fell to 1-1 while South Korea notched its first win after opening the tournament with two straight losses to Iran and Russia. 

Abueva wound up with nine points and six boards while battling foul trouble for the second straight game while Ranidel de Ocampo returned to Gilas uniform with five and six boards after recovering from a hamstring injury. Jayson Castro added seven and five rebounds. 

Gilas will next face the unbeaten Russians at 1 p.m. on Tuesday. The game will be aired live over TV5, Aksyon TV and Sports5.ph.