Gilas Pilipinas falls short against Türkiye in OQT prep

c/o TBF

Gilas Pilipinas fell short in  tuneup game against Türkiye in Istanbul, 84-73, as the squad continued their preparations for the Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

Justin Brownlee paced the Filipinos with 21 points, while June Mar Fajardo backed him up with a double-double of seventeen points and eleven rebounds. 

No other Gilas player scored in double figures, with youngsters Carl Tamayo and Kai Sotto each chipping in seven points. Dwight Ramos, who has been given a bigger responsibility in setting up the offense due to the absence of Scottie Thompson, had a good all around performance with eight rebounds and seven assists, although he struggled with his scoring with only four points. 

EuroLeague veteran and 2023 NBA Draftee Tarik Biberovic led Türkiye with 23 points on 5 of 9 shooting from the three-point range. His fifth triple broke the game open late, establishing an 81-73 lead after Gilas managed to reduce things to a two-possession game.

The hosts were in control for much of the game, although Gilas remained within striking distance, as they managed to be only down by a couple at the half, 40-42.

Unfortunately for the Philippines, Türkiye got hot from deep in securing the victory in front of their home fans.

Behind Biberovic's efforts, they would finish 14/41 from beyond the arc.

In addition, they also feasted on the free throw line, converting 18/22 from the stripe, compared to just seven attempts from the Philippines.

“It was a tough loss against Turkey. We had our first taste of the type of opposition we will be facing in the OQT,” said Gilas team manager Richard Del Rosario. “While others may see it as a satisfying first game, our team mindset is - almost is not enough. We only have one shot at make it to the Olympics and we cannot be satisfied with almost winning. We move on to the next game with a firmer belief that we can hold our own against higher ranked teams with a real chance of reaching our mission of making it to Paris.”

The Philippines is set to travel to Sosnowiec for a friendly against a fellow OQT-bound team in Poland this Saturday.