The Gilas Pilipinas national squad suffered a heartbreaking lost against Puerto Rico on Thursday night, September 3, 2014. The game ended with the final score at 77-73 in favor of Puerto Rico although during the first half of the game, the Philippines dominated the Puerto Ricans.
Watch the Highlights Video of Gilas vs. Puerto Rico:
Puerto Rican national player JJ Barea broke the heart of Gilas Pilpinas as he scored with 30 points and five rebounds, scoring the crucial layup with just 51.8 seconds left in the final period and sinking the crucial free throws at the endgame and led Puerto Rico’s comeback victory from a 14-point deficit.
During the final few minutes of the game, the game were tied at 70-all, with Andray Blatche was given a chance to give the Gilas Pilipinas lead, but he threw the ball away as he drove to the basket with just under a minute left in the fourth quarter giving an opportunity for Puerto to grab the lead of the game.
The Filipinos had a also a chance after Puerto Rico was leading with just two points but Ranidel De Ocampo missed a triple, the Filipinos could do nothing but to foul Barea and send him to the free throw line.
With just 13 seconds left and the score was in favor of Puerto Rico at 75-70, Jimmy Alapag got fouled from the three-point area and nailed his three free throws and Gilas Pilipinas saw some ray of hope, but Ricky Sanches nailed two free throws to ice Puerto Rico’s victory over Gilas Pilipinas.
Naturalized Filipino player Andray Blatch topscored for the Philippines with 25 points and 14 rebounds while LA Tenorio led the local players with 18 points. Gilas Pilipinas is now eliminated from the Round of 16 after dropping its fourth straight game in the tournament.
The Philippine Team will wrap up their World Cup campaign in the group stage on Thursday against Senegal, the team that beat Croatia.
The Highlights Video of the Gilas Pilipinas vs. Puerto Rico game will be added here as soon as available from third-party sites.
