Gilas Pilipinas escapes Qatar in closed-door game

Budding Ginebra star Scottie Thompson takes a shot for Gilas Pilipinas.

The Philippines had another cold shooting performance from the field, but banked on its defense in the second half to defeat Qatar, 92-81, in their FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying matchup on Monday at SMART-Araneta Coliseum.

Unable to find its range from the perimeter early on, Gilas Pilipinas dug itself into a hole, trailing by as much as 17 points a couple of times in the first half.

Playing at home for the first time since its ugly brawl against Australia in July, the Philippines headed into halftime with a 52-39 deficit.

Despite playing without home fans — a penalty for its role in the Australia melee — Gilas got down to business in the third quarter, when it limited Qatar to 12 points while exploding for 28 to take a 67-64 edge heading into the payoff period.

The dam broke completely in the fourth quarter with the Philippines leading by as much as 16 points, 86-70, before a mini-run by Qatar brought the final score closer.

Gilas did it despite shooting a miserable 3-of-32 clip (9 percent) from three-point distance, an even worse performance than its 18 percent finish against Iran in a loss in Tehran last Friday.

It was the first victory in the competition for Gilas under coach Yeng Guiao, who took over national team duties after Chot Reyes was suspended because of the Australia incident.

More importantly, the Philippines improved its record in the competition to 5-3, keeping it in solid position for a top three finish to qualify for the World Cup next year in China.

Japeth Aguilar was a big spark for Gilas, scoring 14 of 16 points in the second half. Alex Cabagnot also had 16 points for the Philippines, while Stanley Pringle chipped in 13. —JST, GMA News