Monday, August 14, 2017

Gilas tops Qatar, sweeps FIBA Asia Cup pool play

Gilas Pilipinas escaped with an 80-74 victory over Qatar to cap off its prelims campaign in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup late Sunday with a sweep of Group B.

Matthew Wright led the charge with 25 points, converting 7/12 from 3-point distance. With both JuneMar Fajardo and Christian Standhardinger sidelined due to injury, Carl Bryan Cruz stepped up to absorb minutes as one of the big men for Gilas, contributing 13 points. Gabe Norwood continued being an all-around contributor with ten points, seven rebounds, five assists, and two blocks.

Gilas managed to grow the lead by as much as 20 before Qatar managed to reduce the lead to just five with 2:36 remaining. Wright and Terrence Romeo then stabilized things for Gilas to hold on to the victory.

Even with the victory, Chot Reyes was not pleased with how the team played, noting that this kind of effort will not do against Japan or Korea.

Mansour El-Hadary led Qatar with 23 points, while adding six assists and three steals. Abdulrahman Saad contributed 18 points and 11 rebounds.

With the sweep, the Philippines gets a couple of days off as they await the winner of Japan against Korea later tonight.

Notes: Calvin Abueva was once again limited in action for Gilas, incurring an injury that forced him out of the game. At least Fifteen busloads of overseas-based Filipinos packed the Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex, providing a sense of home for the players. They also hosted a dinner with the team afterwards.

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