Arayi waxes hot late to lift Perlas Pilipinas past Kazakhstan in OT

Team captain Ewon Arayi waxed hot in overtime to lift Perlas Pilipinas past Kazakhstan, 80-73, for their last game in the group stage of the FIBA Asia Championships on Wednesday in Wuhan, China.

With the victory, the team finished on top of Group B with a 4-1 card and will next play against either India or Thailand, the bottom seeds of Group A, to start their playoff campaign.

Arayi led the Philippines with 28 points, scoring 13 in overtime, and went perfect from the line with 12-of-12 free throws. Allana Lim added 17 points, while Andrea Tongco and Shelley Gupilan tossed in 10 points apiece. Afril Bernardino, meanwhile, controlled the boards with 14 and dished out five assists.

Oxana Ossipenko and Tamara Yagodkina paced Kazakhstan with 19 points each and combined for 19 rebounds, while Zalina Kurazova and Nadezhda Kondrakova finished with 14 and 11 points.

Arayi failed to sink a single three-pointer after 10 attempts in the first three quarters, but her shooting finally clicked in the fourth. As the Kazakh ladies took their largest lead of the game, 60-51, the former Adamson standout dropped back-to-back triples to spur the squad's late charge.

Ossipenko responded with her own three, 63-57, but Philippine comeback would not be deterred as Lim and Gupilan drained a basket and a trey to put the Filipinas within one.

Perlas had the chance to go for the victory as Camille Sambile drew a foul with 41 seconds left, but she split her free throws to extend the game.

Kazakhstan took a 69-68 lead after the two teams exchanged buckets, but it was all Philippines from then on as Arayi got fouled while shooting a trey and calmly nailed all charities.

The Pinay skipper then stretched the Perlas lead to five with another triple, 74-69, while Afril Bernardino and Tongco also followed up with insurance baskets to seize the momentum for good. - RAF, GMA News