Thursday, August 10, 2017

Gilas takes down China in FIBA Asia Cup opener

The Philippines opened their 2017 FIBA Asia Cup campaign with a 96-87 victory over defending champions China at the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Beirut on Wednesday.

Gilas rode on the heroics of Terrence Romeo in the fourth quarter to preserve the victory, staving off the Chinese comeback from 17 down and providing some sort of revenge after losing to them in the 2015 final.

The Globalport star poured fourteen of his 26 points in the final period, broken down into two segments. He scored Gilas' first six points in the quarter, then, with China having taken control of the lead, scored eight straight points to spark Gilas' finishing kick.

Assisting Romeo in leading the charge is Jayson Castro, who contributed 13 points and seven assists. Christian Standhardinger and Matthew Wright combined for 27 points, while Gabe Norwood led the team in minutes and contributed in all aspects of the game.

Guo Ailun and Zhou Peng led the charge for the defending champions, whittling down from the large deficit until managing to take the lead in the fourth quarter, just before Romeo decided to resume his heroics and Gilas decided to clamp down on defense in the final 4:20. Guo finished with 18 points and five assists before fouling out, while Zhou contributed 17 markers.

Gilas resumes its FIBA Asia Cup campaign tonight against Iraq at 9pm. Game will be shown LIVE on TV5 and Sports5.ph.

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