After the nip and tuck first half of the ball game, a single third quarter rampage was enough to shrug off the tough giants of Iraq with overpowering 84-68 victory, grabbing two consecutive wins as they remain on top while assuring the quarter final berth in the group B of FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon.
Buoyed by their palpable height disparity, added by Filipinos’ unlucky breaks through point-blank misses and struggling rebounding efficiency, the Iraq squad managed to hold off the Gilas on both sides of the court, keeping the lead in the first period at 19-17.
The Iraqi-American Kevin Galloway led his team in the offensive end, giving the Filipinos hard-time to cope up with an efficient defensive strategy.
However, consecutive baskets courtesy of a Japeth Aguilar deep reverse lay-up and Terrence Romeo trey, followed by a Jayson Castro coast-to-coast transition – leaving four Iraqis on the floor – for a wonderful feed to Carl Bryan Cruz inside the paint, tied the ball game at 29 apiece on the last 2 minutes of the first half. These made them uncover their slight offensive pace and grab the lead at 32-31.
It seemed like the half time break let the Philippines revitalize their offensive momentum as Terrence Romeo started the remorseless rampage by stringing a 7-point surge, added by Christian Standhardinger tough basket and Carl Bryan Cruz trey with a charity – spreading a 20-point massive cushion against the struggling Iraq team, 60-40.
On the fourth quarter, there was no looking back for relentless Gilas as they burried the Iraqis with more intense end-game gush to win the game and earn the solo top spot in group B with 2-0 record.
Terrence Romeo once again took the driver’s seat for Gilas team with his 17 big points, 4 assists while Standhardinger, even though struggling in the early game, muscled his way with 16 markers and 7 rebounds.
Carl Bryan Cruz, meanwhile, showed his snipping prowess with perfect three out of three from the rainbow territory, giving him a total of 11 points.
On the side of Iraq squad, Kevin Galloway spearheaded their team with double-double output of 23 points and 14 boards.
Even though their spot is already guaranteed in the quarter finals, Gilas Pilipinas will still face next the winless Qatar. | Tretch Melarpes – PTV
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 84 – Romeo 17, Standhardinger 16, Cruz 11, Pogoy 9, Norwood 8, Wright 8, Aguilar 5, Jalalon 4, Abueva 3, Almazan 2, Castro 1
IRAQ 68 – Galloway 23, Hamzah 12, Al-Khafaji 8, Ismael 6, Hameed 5, Hamad 5, Abdullah 3, Dhafer 2, Talib 2, Alfburi 2, Aljuboori 0, Alazawi 0
Quarterscores: 17-19, 32-31, 60-40, 84-68