Filtered By: Sports
Sports

Gilas Pilipinas knocked out after defeat to JJ Barea-led Puerto Rico


The Philippine national team bowed out of contention to move into the next round of the FIBA Basketball World Cup after yielding a 77-73 result to Puerto Rico on Wednesday.

Gilas Pilipinas lost its fourth straight match, including the third that went down the stretch, in the preliminary round of the tournament.

NBA point guard JJ Barea scored 30 points, including the killer blows against Gilas down the stretch. His three-pointer with less than two minutes left tied the game at 70-all.

The pint-sized point guard then broke the game's final deadlock with a layup with 51 seconds remaining.

After a Ranidel De Ocampo miss, Barea then added two free throws to stretch the lead to four, 74-70, with 34 seconds remaining.

LA Tenorio missed again in Gilas' next possession, and Barea split anew from the line for a 75-70 edge with 13 seconds left.

Jimmy Alapag gave Gilas some life, drawing a foul from behind the arc and making all three free throws, 75-73.

But Ricky Sanchez snuffed out all the Philippines' hopes by hitting two free throws with 3.2 seconds left.

It was a particularly frustrating development for the Philippines, which led by as much as 12 points early in the game.

But Puerto Rico came roaring back, chipping away at the lead before finally getting the upper hand in the third period.

Naturalized center Andray Blatche scored 25 points and 14 rebounds to lead the Philippines, while LA Tenorio added 18 points.

Gilas still a chance to end its campaign with a victory when the squad takes on Senegal on Thursday. — JST, GMA News

LOADING CONTENT