'Laban pa rin': RR Pogoy says Gilas to keep fighting despite falling to 0-2 in FIBA World Cup

Gilas Pilipinas' will to fight isn't about to fade despite falling to a 0-2 win-loss card in Group A of the 2023 FIBA World Cup here, following a heartbreaking 80-70 loss to Angola.

This was the promise of Gilas player RR Pogoy.

"Laban pa rin. Laban pa rin kasi may laro pa e. So 'di kami susuko, lalaban lang," Pogoy said.

("We'll keep fighting. We'll keep the fight because there's still games remaining So we won't give up, we'll keep fighting.")

The Filipinos seemed to have control early in the match at the Smart Araneta Coliseum, leading by as much as 11 points, 28-17, following a basket from Pogoy. But Angola unleashed 11 unanswered points to tie things up at 28-all before another 8-5 closing run allowed them to regain the lead at the half, 36-33.

It went downhill for the Filipinos from there as the Angolans didn't relinquish the lead anymore from that point. Gerson Goncalves and Gerson Domingos fired five straight points for a 66-55 cushion and that lead went as high as 16 in the fourth quarter, 73-57.

But Gilas made a last-gasp comeback attempt, even cutting the deficit down to just five. Still, Angola was able to make the plays to prevail in the end.

Pogoy said that Gilas had trouble in containing the hot-shooting hands of the visitors, who connected on nine three-pointers in the game, including three in the fourth quarter.

"'Yun nga, kinapos [kami]. Ang dami rin nilang three points, crucial na three points. Tinalo talaga kami sa offensive rebounds," the TNT guard said.

"Tignan muna namin sa video, magvi-viewing muna kami and tignan namin so ia-assess din namin kung saan kami natalo sa laro na yun."

("We fell short. They had a lot of three-pointers, crucial three-pointers. They really beat us in offensive rebounds... We'll take a look at the video, we'll do a viewing and assess where we lost that game.")

Despite losing their first two games, Gilas is not yet out of the race to advance to the next round. They must win their next game against Italy, however, and hope that the results of the other game favor their hopes as well.

Read more | FIBA World Cup Preview: A Serbian correspondent breaks down Gilas Pilipinas vs Italy

Gilas returns to the court on August 29, Tuesday, against Italy at 8 p.m.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News