The Philippine National Men’s Basketball team, more popularly known as Gilas Pilipinas lost another heartbreaker in the 2014 FIBA World Cup held in Spain. The game was held on Monday night, September 1, 2014 (Manila Time). Although the Philippines took a double-digit lead in the second period, the sweet shooting from the perimeter of the world no. 3 ranked team erased their led in the third period of the game.
Watch the Highlights Video of the Gilas Pilipinas vs. Argentina:
Gilas Pilipinas came back from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter to come as close as single point before falling just short to upset Argentina. Talk ‘N Text veteran Ranidel De Ocampo led all Gilas scorer pouring out 18 points while team captain Jimmy Alapag scored with 15 points, nine of them were scored in the fourth period.
Naturalized Filipino player and NBA veteran Andray Blatche scored his lowest scoring output in the tournament so far with just 14 points but grabbed a total of 15 big rebounds to lead all Gilas players.
Asia’s best point guard Jayson Castro also scored with double figures adding 10 points for Gilas Pilipinas. One of the most popular highlights of the Gilas Pilipinas vs. Argentina was the posterizing slam dunk of Rain or Shine’s Gabe Norwood against Argentine’s defenders including Indiana Pacer’s forward Luis Scola.
The Gilas Pilipinas squad never surrender until the final period of the game as veteran Gilas leader Jimmy Alapag sparked a comeback in the fourth period but the Philippines fell short on their effort to scare the Argentine players who were composed of some veteran national squad members who played with the US National Basketball Association (NBA).
The Philippine team’s back is now against the wall after they lost three successive games, all they need is to win their last two games in Group B during the group round to have a chance of advancing to the next round of the competition, the Round of 16.
Gilas Pilipinas (Philippine Team) is now scheduled to face Puerto Rico on September 3, 2014 and Africa’s third runner-up Team Senegal, the only team in Group B that shocked Group leader Croatia as they defeated the Croatian by 2 points at 77-75.
The Score:
Argentina (85) – Scola 19, Mata 17, Laprovittola 10, Herrmann 10, Nocioni 9, Campazzo 9, Prigioni 8, Gutierrez 3.
Gilas Pilipinas (81) – De Ocampo 18, Alapag 15, Blatche 14, Castro 11, Norwood 6, Fajardo 6, Lee 6, Tenorio 3, Aguilar 2, Pingris 0, Chan 0.
Quarterscores: 22-25, 43-38, 71-61, 85-81.
