The Philippine national men’s basketball team Gilas Pilipinas struggled on offense against a mighty Greece squad, 82-70 game result in the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Monday morning (Philippine time) at the Palacio Municipal de Deportes San Pablo in Seville, Spain.
Andray Blatche scored 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead Gilas Pilipinas as they once again made an impressive fight against the FIBA bwin ranked 5th after the 2013 Continental Championships. Greece is touted as one of the world’s powerhouse basketball teams, having three NBA players in its roster.
The Greeks have Nick Calathes of the Memphis Grizzlies, Kostas Papanikolaou of the Houston Rockets, and Giannis Antetokoumpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.
WATCH: Philippines vs Greece - Game Highlights - Group B - 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup
Gilas Pilipinas trailed as high as 17 points, but the Filipino squad kept on fighting back and did not allow the Greeks to fully break the game wide open.
Gilas made one last push late in the fourth quarter after a LA Tenorio hit a trey and Japeth Aguilar scored a putback that kept the Filipinos within eight, 76-68, with under a minute left.
However, Nick Calathes sank a trey to enable Greece the lead for good.
Greece showed its might at the start of the game after stunning the Filipinos which allowed the European squad to come away with a 20-10 first quarter lead.
Greece opened the third quarter, threatening to pull away after a 9-2 run led by Gerogios Printezis that put them ahead by 17 points, 46-29, at the 7:55 mark.
But the Filipinos didn’t throw the white towel right away as Blatche, visibly in pain, scored five straight points to keep Gilas Pilipinas within 10, 46-36.
June Mar Fajardo showed he can also compete with the world’s best players, blocking two straight shots of Calathes and finishing a layup at the end of the third as Gilas Pilipinas stayed within 13, 58-45.
Jeff Chan, struggling all game long, nailed his first triple to open the fourth and keep Gilas Pilipinas just down by 10, 58-48.
Taller Giannis Bourousis shoved LA Tenorio that started a commotion between players from both sides. Tenorio was earlier called with an unsportsmanlike foul for throwing a punch below the belt on another Greek player.
Fajardo followed up his solid showing in the Philippines’ loss against Croatia with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Marc Pingris showed his toughness again with 10 points and six boards.
Gilas Pilipinas struggled to make their outside shots the whole game, just converting six of 22 attempts for 27 percent. They held their own in the rebounding department, however, grabbing 41 compared to taller Greece’s 45.
Printezis led the way for Greece with 23 points, while Bourousis added 22 markers and 12 boards as they forced their second victory.
The last time the Philippines competed in the FIBA World Cup was in 1978, when the tournament was held in Manila.
WATCH: Gilas Pilipinas versus Greece post-game analysis (video courtesy of GMA News)
 |
| FIBA World Cup 2014: Greece roster |
Andray Blatche scored 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead Gilas Pilipinas as they once again made an impressive fight against the FIBA bwin ranked 5th after the 2013 Continental Championships. Greece is touted as one of the world’s powerhouse basketball teams, having three NBA players in its roster.
The Greeks have Nick Calathes of the Memphis Grizzlies, Kostas Papanikolaou of the Houston Rockets, and Giannis Antetokoumpo of the Milwaukee Bucks.
WATCH: Philippines vs Greece - Game Highlights - Group B - 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup
Gilas Pilipinas trailed as high as 17 points, but the Filipino squad kept on fighting back and did not allow the Greeks to fully break the game wide open.
Gilas made one last push late in the fourth quarter after a LA Tenorio hit a trey and Japeth Aguilar scored a putback that kept the Filipinos within eight, 76-68, with under a minute left.
However, Nick Calathes sank a trey to enable Greece the lead for good.
Greece showed its might at the start of the game after stunning the Filipinos which allowed the European squad to come away with a 20-10 first quarter lead.
Greece opened the third quarter, threatening to pull away after a 9-2 run led by Gerogios Printezis that put them ahead by 17 points, 46-29, at the 7:55 mark.
But the Filipinos didn’t throw the white towel right away as Blatche, visibly in pain, scored five straight points to keep Gilas Pilipinas within 10, 46-36.
June Mar Fajardo showed he can also compete with the world’s best players, blocking two straight shots of Calathes and finishing a layup at the end of the third as Gilas Pilipinas stayed within 13, 58-45.
Jeff Chan, struggling all game long, nailed his first triple to open the fourth and keep Gilas Pilipinas just down by 10, 58-48.
Taller Giannis Bourousis shoved LA Tenorio that started a commotion between players from both sides. Tenorio was earlier called with an unsportsmanlike foul for throwing a punch below the belt on another Greek player.
Fajardo followed up his solid showing in the Philippines’ loss against Croatia with 10 points and seven rebounds, while Marc Pingris showed his toughness again with 10 points and six boards.
Gilas Pilipinas struggled to make their outside shots the whole game, just converting six of 22 attempts for 27 percent. They held their own in the rebounding department, however, grabbing 41 compared to taller Greece’s 45.
Printezis led the way for Greece with 23 points, while Bourousis added 22 markers and 12 boards as they forced their second victory.
The last time the Philippines competed in the FIBA World Cup was in 1978, when the tournament was held in Manila.
WATCH: Gilas Pilipinas versus Greece post-game analysis (video courtesy of GMA News)
