Gilas Pilipinas took down South Korea in their opening match in the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers, 81-78, at the Angeles City Foundation Gym on Wednesday (June 16).
Gilas latest win, pushed by SJ Belanghel’s buzzer-beater three-pointer, retains Philippines’ lossless record at 4-0 in Group A of the qualifiers.
It was a down-to-the-wire affair for both squads, with Gilas squandering a 66-70 lead in the final four minutes and allowing a 9-0 run that resulted in a 75-70 lead for the Korean squad.
The national squad clawed back, and naturalized center Kouame had a chance to put the game away for good, but missed his free throw following a big putback 10.5 seconds left on the game clock.
Korea capitalized on this as Lee Hyun Jung nailed a game-tying triple with 2.8 seconds remaining.
Gilas, however, had the last laugh with Belangel sinking an off-balanced, off-the-glass trey. The guard from Ateneo had 13 points, five rebounds, and two assists.
The Philippine team’s last victory over the East Asian team was in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship. This also secured the country’s slot in the Continental showpiece in Indonesia this coming August.
The country’s final 12 roster includes Rj Abarrientos, Justine Baltazar, Sj Belangel, Javi Gomez De Liaño, Isaac Go, Angelo Kouame, William Navarro, Mike Nieto, Dwight Ramos, Kai Sotto, Carl Tamayo, and Jaydee Tungcab. – PTV News, PTV Sports
