A single 4th quarter rampage was enough for the Gilas Pilipinas to shrug off the pesky Taiwanese squad as they continued their FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifier campaign on a high note with a 90-83 win at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Monday night.
The Gilas team was off to a sloppy start as they gave up 14 points, 3-17, in the first few minutes of the first quarter to Taipei squad lead by Quincy Davis’ 7 straight unanswered points.
But Junmar Fajardo, who came off the bench to replace struggling Andray Blatche, sparked the Gilas not only with his 7 early points but also giving Davis a hard time in the defensive end — dealing him to sit out into the ball game due to his 2 consecutive fouls.
Without Davis in the last minutes of the first canto, Gilas took the advantage — snatching the momentum to cut down the deficit by just 5 points, 23-18.
Using clogging defense of cat-quick Gilas leading into transition offense, the Filipinos finally snatched a hard-earned 2-point lead at the end of the second quarter. 44-42.
Gilas continued to reel over in the third quarter as Fajardo retained his dominance inside the paint, but the Taiwanese squad refused to go down without a single fight, damaging the Filipinos with their long range bombs to stay close in the scoreboard.
The Filipinos, however, failed to capitalize the absence of the foul-troubled Davis — only acquiring just one point lead at the end of the third quarter, 65-64.
Gilas gunners Matthew Wright and Roger Pogoy, with 11 points a piece, finally unleashed their shooting prowess in the best possible time as they knocked down game-deciding long bombs to lead the Philippines in their last quarter surge.
Jayson Castro again provided some firepower in the end-game with his 20 markers, 4 rebounds and 4 assists while Junemar Fajardo powered the Gilas Pilipinas inside game with his outstanding 17 points and 8 boards.
Quincy Davis, in a losing effort, lead the Taipei squad with his 20 points and 9 rebounds.
With them winning their two games in the first window, the Filipinos now on the first place together with Australia in Group B.
The Philippines next stop will be on the opponent’s turf, facing Australia on February 22 and then, battling again the Japanese squad in home court. | (Tretch Melarpes – PTV)
