With assist from nemesis Korea, Gilas Pilipinas back in the FIBA World Cup

The last time the Philippines qualified for the FIBA Basketball World Cup, Gilas Pilipinas needed a dramatic win against traditional nemesis South Korea in Manila in 2013 to punch their ticket.

This time around, a victory by the East Asian side was key to the Philippines booking its place it the world stage.

Gilas took care of business with a 93-75 win over Kazakhstan on Sunday in Astana, but needed a push from South Korea’s 84-72 win over Lebanon in Zouk Mosbeh.

With those results, Gilas was assured of being the best fourth-place team in the Asian Qualifiers, which earned them a place in the World Cup.

Rocky campaign

Qualifying for FIBA's top tournament marks the end of a rocky journey for the Philippines to return to the world stage of basketball.

The Gilas Pilipinas campaign started off swimmingly, starting at 4-1 with sweeps against Japan and Chinese Taipei while giving a good account of themselves in defeat to powerhouse Australia in Melbourne.

But disaster struck in its last assignment in the opening round against the Boomers last July, which saw a bench-clearing brawl that left 10 players and the team’s head coach at the time, Chot Reyes, unavailable due to suspension.

It was a black eye for both the Philippine team’s reputation and for its chances to advance. Yeng Guiao was tapped to take over the national program, and he guided the team in defeat against Iran and a win against Qatar in September.

Disaster struck anew in December, when an out-of-sorts Philippine squad dropped its games, both at home, to Iran and Kazakhstan.

Scoreboard watching

That meant that Gilas did not have its fate in its hands heading into the final two-game window. The team needed to win its remaining games, both on the road, against Qatar and Kazakhstan. It also needed to  hope for defeats for either Japan, Jordan, or Lebanon in the last day of the qualifiers.

The Philippines got its needed victories over Qatar and Kazakhstan.

Japan defeated Qatar, 96-48, while Jordan upset New Zealand, 86-80.

Thankfully for the Philippines, South Korea pulled out a win over Lebanon, this time bringing joy to millions of basketball-crazy Filipinos around the world, for a change. --JST, GMA News