GILAS PILIPINAS CONQUERS LEBANON, ENTERS FIBA ASIA SEMIS
By Maloney L. Samaco
PhilBoxing.com
Fri, 02 Oct 2015
The Philippine men's basketball team Gilas Pilipinas joined the Final Four as they trounced Lebanon, 82-70, Thursday in the quarterfinals of the FIBA Asia Olympic Qualifier in Changsha, China. They will face Japan today in the semifinals for a right to enter the finals.
Earlier, Japan routed Qatar, 81-67, to join the semis joust. In the second round, Gilas had defeated Japan, 73-66, during their first encounter in the second round.
Jayson Castro showed why he is one of Asia's top players with a brillant 25-point output while Andray Blatche powered the Philippines with 24 points and 17 rebounds.
The Filipinos got an early first quarter lead, 20-16, due to Castro's hot hands pouring in 12 points. At halftime, Lebanon inched closer with Gilas maintaining a 37-32 lead.
Our boys got some good opposition from Lebanon's top scorers but headed the fourth quarter still ahead at 57-49. The Lebanese triples threatened them towards the dying minutes but Gilas managed to hold on for the much sought victory.
Before the game, Lebanon coach Veselin Matic commented that Gilas Pilipinas would be ?easier? to beat than Iran. Coach Tab Baldwin used this statement to challenge the Filipino players to show them that they are not "easier to beat" as their opponents thought they would be.
"I'm not worried about that. We got the win. That?s the most important thing. They had a lot to say. They said thought it was gonna be easy, in their coaches words, and we just had to come out and shut them up,? Blatche was quoted by interaksyon.
The game looked like a homecourt tussle for Lebanon as the Chinese crowd cheered for them. The hosts prefered that they face Lebanon in the finals than Gilas because of defending champion Iran's loss to the Philippines.
Iran trounced South Korea, 75-62 to arrange a semis meeting with China who defeated India, 104-58.
Gilas players did not succomb to crowd pressure. They showed to the basketball world that they are in strong contention for a slot in the 2016 Rio de Janiero Olympics.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Maloney L. Samaco.
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