MANILA, Philippines – A sweet-shooting South Sudan side pushed the Philippines further away from their goal of securing an outright Olympic berth, turning back a spirited run by Gilas Pilipinas in front of the home crowd, 87-68, Thursday night at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
It was a wire-to-wire affair for South Sudan, as Gilas struggled to close out against the shooters of the FIBA World Cup debutants in their classification tussle.
Thanks to the South Sudanese's red-hot shooting of and the Filipinos' porous defense, the African team led by as much as 21 as early as the first half, 51-30.
The second half, however, was a different story as Gilas mounted a blistering run to cut South Sudan's lead to four, 56-60, with 7:28 remaining in the fourth quarter after a booming alley-oop dunk by Kai Sotto.
But the visitors countered with four quick points to keep Gilas at bay, 64-56.
Dwight Ramos scored a 3-pointer from Steph Curry range to cut the lead to five, 64-59, with 5:48 remaining in the game. But that was the closest Gilas got to their opponents.
A 3-pointer by Nuni Omot with 4:36 remaining gave South Sudan an 11-point lead, 72-61, dousing any hope of a Gilas comeback as they cruised through to the finish line.
Another trey by Omot with 1:42 remaining completely slammed the door for the Filipinos.
Chicago Bull Carlik Jones fell one rebound shy of a first-ever triple-double in the World Cup, leading South Sudan with 17 points, 14 assists and nine boards.
Jordan Clarkson and Dwight Ramos spearheaded Gilas, with 24 and 20 points, respectively. Ramos pulled down 12 rebounds for a double-double.
With victories by Japan, China and Lebanon on Thursday, Gilas' hopes of punching a ticket to the Olympics through the FIBA World Cup is dead.
Japan has two wins in the World Cup, while China and Lebanon have one apiece.
The best Asian team from the tournament will receive an automatic spot in next year's Paris Olympics.
Gilas will play China on Saturday night at the same venue to cap off their World Cup stint, still looking for that win that had eluded the Nationals for four games. The Filipinos finished the group stages with losses to the Dominican Republic, Angola and Italy.
South Sudan, meanwhile, will be face Angola also on Saturday.