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FIBA: Gilas saves best for last, crushes China to close World Cup campaign

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Dennis Gasgonia, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/09/02/20230902-gilas-pilipinas-china-fiba-2023-jc-9324.jpg"/><figcaption>Jordan Clarkson leads Gilas Pilipinas past China in the FIBa World Cup. <em>Photo by Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>MANILA <strong>(UPDATED) </strong>-- Gilas Pilipinas vented its ire on China, mounting a massive third quarter barrage to finally score a 96-75 win and avert a shutout in the FIBA World Cup at the Araneta Coliseum on Saturday.</p><p>Jordan Clarkson exploded for 34 points, spiked by five three-point shots, in their final game in the classification phase while boosting the Filipinos&#x27; chances of making the cut for an Olympic Qualifying Tournament.</p><p>Gilas ended its FIBA World Cup campaign with a 1-4 record.</p><p>Roger Pogoy and Dwight Ramos knocked down treys to piece together a 10-2 run for Gilas, but Rui Zhao and Zhenlin Zhang rallied China and cut the deficit to a single point. </p><p>China got the lead after five straight points from Zhang, 10-14, then Clarkson and Kai Sotto responded to tie the count 16-all.</p><p>Rhenz Abando then instigated the offense for the nationals in the second quarter, scoring on a triple followed by a dunk for a 26-20 advantage. But Zhenlin Zhang and Kaier Li fought back to give China a 40-39 margin at the half.</p><p>It was a back-and-forth affair for both squads in the third quarter until Gilas rolled out a massive that had China reeling, 59-48. It was at this point that Clarkson waxed hot from the three-point area, knocking down four straight triples to give Gilas a 70-50 headway.</p><p>Scottie Thompson and Edu instigated another run for Gilas, this time an 8-3 exchange in the fourth quarter to give the nationals their biggest lead in the game, 85-60.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2023/life/09/02/20230902-fiba-gilas-china-celebration-jc-7.jpg"/><figcaption>Gilas Pilipinas and fans celebrate after the team beat China in their FIBA 2023 World Cup match at the Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City on September 2, 2023. <em>Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Kai Sotto finished with 12 points and six rebounds for Gilas, which also got 14 markers from Abando. Ramos, who celebrated his birthday on Saturday, added 11.</p><p>Li, more familiar to NBA fans as Kyle Anderson, ended up with 17 markers for China. Hu and Zhao added 12 points each.</p><p>&quot;We just asked the players today to play with joy in their hearts and to dig deep,&quot; said Gilas coach Chot Reyes.</p><p>&quot;We just had two words, dig deep. And that&#x27;s what the players did. Playing for nothing but pride, but we wanted to gift the Filipino people with something to end our World Cup, and the players did it.&quot; </p><p>Clarkson, for his part, was relieved with his team&#x27;s performance. </p><p>&quot;My teammates found me in transition, getting some open shots. I feel like this whole World Cup I really haven&#x27;t been able to get free and get into a super crazy rhythm just because how defenses were playing and stuff like that,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;But I just continued to stay with it. My teammates found me, got me open, I just made shots. It was great.&quot;</p><p>After a promising start, losing only by 87-81 to Dominican Republic, Gilas suffered stinging losses against Angola (80-70) and Italy (90-83) in the group stage. The nationals then absorbed their worst beating against South Sudan, 87-68, and crashed out of the race for an Olympic berth.</p><p>But with the victory, Gilas avoided going winless at a World Cup, following the Philippines in 1978 and Columbia in 1982.</p><p>China, on the other hand, was coming off an 83-76 win over Angola after losing all three games in the group stage.</p><div><em><strong>For more stories on the FIBA World Cup, click <a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/fibaworldcup2023">here</a>.</strong></em></div><div><strong>RELATED VIDEO</strong></div><figure class="op-interactive"><iframe height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/hUczRAKOVFQ?enablejsapi=1" width="560"></iframe></figure><div class="iwantbar">Watch more News on <a href="https://www.iwanttfc.com/#!/browse/Genres/News/tag_id_genres/id_news" target="_blank">iWantTFC</a></div>

Gilas Pilipinas vented its ire on China, mounting a massive third quarter barrage to finally score a 96-75 win and avert a shutout in the FIBA World Cup.

FIBA: Gilas saves best for last, crushes China to close World Cup campaign

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FIBA: Gilas saves best for last, crushes China to close World Cup campaign

Dennis Gasgonia,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 02, 2023 09:56 PM PHT

|

Updated Sep 03, 2023 12:23 AM PHT

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basketball

FIBA

FIBA World Cup

Gilas Pilipinas

China

Jordan Clarkson

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