What’s up, Ballers! Discodad is here to celebrate with you the victory of the Gilas Pilipinas. The Gilas Pilipinas Men scored 82 points in the second half to beat Korea, 82-77, and finish a sweep of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers at the AUF Sports Arena and Cultural Center in Angeles City, Pampanga, on Sunday. The game started at 3 p.m. Sunday at the Angeles University Foundation Gym in Pampanga. Gilas Pilipinas leads Group A with a 5-0 record after victories against Korea on Wednesday and Indonesia on Friday.
The young Filipinos did not need a fortunate shot in the final minute this time, but they did depend on three big free throws from Dwight Ramos and SJ Belangel in the last 25 seconds to complete the tournament with an undefeated 5-0 record.
“Obviously overjoyed to take three wins from this window and two against South Korea. I think that’s a great credit to this basketball team and these young players,” head coach Tab Baldwin expressed.
“But also I want to make sure that everybody acknowledges what a great job our coaching staff did. And I’m talking excluding myself.”
After earning a poor sportsmanship foul off an inbound, Belangel, the Gilas hero who hoisted the Nationals with a game-winning buzzer-beater last Wednesday, went 1-for-2 from the line with 25.2 ticks left.
After the Filipinos regained possession and split their charity, Ramos drew a foul and brought down his own miss to put an end to any chances of a late comeback by the Koreans.
Ramos, who is 22 years old, led the way for Gilas with 19 points on 5-for-9 shooting from three-point range, five assists, and two steals.
Kai Sotto, RJ Abarrientos, and Jordan Heading each had ten points, while William Navarro had eight points and four rebounds, as well as a late assist to Justine Baltazar on a broken play that allowed the Philippines maintain a 79-75 lead with 33 seconds left.
Gilas shot a pedestrian 38.7% (29-for-75) from downtown, but they got hot and nailed 14-for-37 3s (37.8 percent).
The Philippines outscored the Koreans 19-5 in points scored off turnovers and limited them to just three fast break points.
“I think that tells the story. That’s a pretty good formula for beating a South Korea team, when you hold their transition game down, and you don’t turn the ball over and you get on the boards,” Baldwin noted.
Ra Guna, a naturalized big man, finished with 20 points on 8-for-10 shooting and 13 rebounds, but just six in the second half for Korea. Lee Hyunjung had 13 points, three triples, and eight rebounds, while Yang Hongseok had 12 points and three threes.
The Gilas seized control in the second quarter, outscoring Korea 20-14 while limiting their opponents to 5-for-12 shooting from the floor to take a 38-34 advantage into halftime.
“I was particularly happy with our first half defense. I thought we did a great job in the first half. It really set the tone that we were going to be a competitive team throughout the game and we were going to be there at the end, one way or another,” said Baldwin.
The Gilas will now prepare to travel to Serbia, where they will compete in the Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT) in Belgrade on June 30 and July 1 against the hosts and the Dominican Republic.
PHILIPPINES 82 — Ramos 19, Sotto 10, Heading 10, Abarrientos 10, Navarro 8, Kouame 7, Baltazar 6, Belangel 6, Nieto 3, Go 3, Chiu 0.
KOREA 77 — Ra 20, Lee HJ 13, Yang 12, Lee DS 9, Lee SH 8, Kim 8, Jeon 3, Byeon 2, Yeo 2, Ha 0.
Quarters: 18-20, 38-34, 56-54, 82-77.
Thank you Ballers for staying tuned! See you on the next games of the Gilas Pilipinas.