Gilas Pilipinas loses again in the Asian Games

• Tweet
• Pin It

Gilas Pilipinas suffered another loss over Qatar, 77-68, in the quarterfinals of the Asian Games basketball in Incheon, South Korea.

The Philippine National Men’s basketball team started at low-key until the players found their groove in the last three minutes of the first quarter. Playing with vaunted defense against Qatar, Gilas Pilipinas led 39-36 at halftime through Marcus Douthit’s six points.

It was a nightmare for Gilas in the third quarter as Qatar pulled off a 15-0 run to capture the lead, 51-39. A long field goal drought for Gilas that lasted seven minutes until Jimmy Alapag hit the triple.

The Qataris exploited every opportunity through naturalized guard Boney Watson driving to the hoops and Mohd Mohamed dropping outsite shots that made the defense of Gilas Pilipinas awkward.

Coach Chot Reyes tried to find the right combination by using a small but faster lineup with Mark Pingris and Ranidel De Ocampo as the big men to limit the triples of the Qataris.

Alapag hit two three-pointers to end the third quarter, cutting the lead of Qatar into only six points. However, Qatar utilized its big men to score two consecutive baskets inside. Gilas Pilipinas tried to have huge come back but they turned the ball over two times in the last three minutes that paved the way for Qatar to maintain the lead.

Alapag ended up with 15 points on 5 of 6 three-pointers. But he was checked by Qatar’s defense in the closing moments of the game. Douthit added 10 points for Gilas Pilipinas.

Mohamed scored 19 points and Watson added 15 points for Qatar, which is still undefeated. Qatar’s three-pointers have caught Gilas Pilipinas defense in the third quarter.

With the loss, Gilas Pilipinas are on the brink of losing its bid for even a medal. Gilas Pilipinas will play South Korea in a do-or-die game tomorrow at 1:00 PM. A defeat in tomorrow’s game would mean not medal for the Philippine basketball team.

• Tweet
• Pin It