Nikola Vucevic, Montenegro Defeats Gilas Pilipinas in a Tuneup Game
Gilas Pilipinas basketball team falls short to Montenegro in the pre-World Cup closed-door exhibition game at the PhilSports Arena in Pasig.
In a friendly game on Sunday night, the world’s number 18 basketball team defeated the number 40 Gilas Pilipinas 102-67. Montenegro pulled away from the host team in the second half after a somewhat competitive first half in which the former led 44-42.
Montenegro led by two at the half and had a strong second half to pull away for good. Nikola Vucevic of the Chicago Bulls opened the second half with a 3-pointer, which was followed by another from Nikola Ivanovic to extend Montenegro’s lead to eight points, 50-42.
Vucevic led Black Mountain with 18 points (7/10fg, 3/4 3pts, 1/1ft) to go along with 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 2 blocks. Montenegrins have never looked back since. Montenegro led by as many as 20 points, 90-70, after Bojan Dubljevic hit a 3-pointer.
Jordan Clarkson led Gilas with 27 points on 8-of-15 shooting, including 2-of-4 from beyond the arc and a perfect 9-of-9 from the free-throw line in a losing effort. Clarkson also has two rebounds, five assists, one steal, and a game-high eight turnovers in 29 minutes of action.
June Mar Fajardo contributed 19 points (6/8fg, 7/8ft), 3 rebounds, and 1 assist in 16 minutes. Dwight Ramos contributed 13 points (4/8fg, 4/4ft), 2 rebounds, and 3 steals in the contest.
Based on the article of PhilStar, RR Pogoy, Calvin Oftana, Kiefer Ravena, CJ Perez, and big man Kai Sotto are the five Gilas players who went scoreless. Gilas shot 49.1% from the field (28 of 57 attempts), including 5-of-15 from beyond the arc.
Montenegro, on the other hand, made 40 of 67 field goals and 10 of 24 three-point tries. Gilas logs 26 of 29 free throws, while Black Mountain logs 12 of 13 attempts. Montenegro committed 11 turnovers, while Gilas committed 19.
Montenegro had 26 more assists than Gilas. The foreign team also has 12 more steals than Gilas. On Monday, August 21, Gilas Pilipinas will play its final warm-up game against world Number 31 Mexico. Meanwhile, Gilas are focused on defeating the Dominican Republic and Angola team.
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