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FIBA World Cup: No end in sight to Pinoys’ agony, as Gilas falls to Tunisia

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Camille B. Naredo, ABS-CBN News

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/tvpatrol/09/04/20190906-aguilar.jpg"/><figcaption>Salah Mejri and Africa basketball champion Tunisia were way, way better than their No. 51 ranking, as proven by their blowout win over the sputtering Gilas Pilipinas on Friday. <em>FIBA.basketball</em></figcaption></figure></div><h3>Loss ends Filipinos&#x27; chase for outright Olympic berth</h3><p>BEIJING (UPDATE)—Gilas Pilipinas continued to struggle in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, this time dropping its first game of the classification phase to Tunisia, 86-67, on Friday night at the Wukesong Arena here.</p><p>This is the Philippines&#x27; fourth loss in a row in the tournament, after the team dropped all three of its games in the group phase in Foshan. The defeat, combined with China&#x27;s 77-73 triumph over South Korea in their own classification game, formally ended Gilas&#x27; chances of earning an outright berth to next year&#x27;s Olympic Games.</p><p>The Filipinos&#x27; hopes were high against a Tunisia side ranked 51st by FIBA, but a breakthrough triumph remained elusive for Gilas Pilipinas. Instead, it was the African team that claimed its second win of the competition to move to the top of Group N.</p><p>&quot;Well, we&#x27;re still not making our shots. As a small team, we need to make our outside shots against the bigger team. Aside from the fact that we didn&#x27;t play good defense in the first half, we played better in the fourth defensively, but it was too little, too late,&quot; Gilas coach Yeng Guiao said.</p><p>Andray Blatche had 24 points and 11 rebounds, but he was the only Filipino to reach double digits in scoring. Gilas shot just 40% from the field, making 8 of 23 3-pointers. They also committed 15 turnovers that Tunisia turned to 19 points.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/tvpatrol/09/04/20190906-bolick.jpg"/><figcaption>Robert Bolick, who guaranteed victory hours before the game, was virtually a nonfactor in Gilas&#x27; loss on Friday. <em>FIBA.basketball</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Much like their game against Italy, a slow start spelled doom for the Filipinos. Early turnovers allowed Tunisia to claim a quick 6-0 lead, and it was an advantage they never gave up.</p><p>Salah Mejri, who played for the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA, proved too much inside for the Philippine big men. He scored easily against Japeth Aguilar, before being subbed out early with two fouls. His teammates picked up the slack, however, with Michael Roll and Mohamed Hadidane sinking their perimeter shots to pad Tunisia’s advantage.</p><p>The lead ballooned to 23, 35-13, at the 7:34 mark of the second after Nizar Knioua got a dipsy-doo lay-up to fall against two Gilas defenders. The Philippines trimmed the deficit to 18 points after a lay-up by CJ Perez and a triple by Mark Barroca, but it was Tunisia that ended the first half on a stronger note.</p><p>Mourad El Mabrouk easily scored inside after a breakdown in the Philippines’ defense, and Mejri nailed a long two-pointer to give his team a 46-24 lead at the break.</p><p>&quot;I just keep telling them, keep competing. You just have to keep competing, you just have to execute the game plan, follow &#x27;yung kung ano &#x27;yung roles na ibinigay namin sa kanila, kung papaano &#x27;yung execution ng game plan,&quot; Guiao said of his message to the team at the half.</p><p>Gilas started the third quarter well, with Robert Bolick sinking a 3-pointer, but Hadidane answered back with his own triple, and Mejri converted an alley-oop for a lay-up. It would be all Tunisia from there, though the Philippines did play better in the final quarter. Blatche, in particular, appeared to finally find his rhythm, nailing a couple of 3-pointers and driving hard for dunks.</p><div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2019/tvpatrol/09/04/20190906-blatche.jpg"/><figcaption>Andray Blatche finished with 24 points and 11 rebounds, numbers that didn&#x27;t matter in a game Tunisia won wire-to-wire and in dominant fashion.<em> FIBA.basketball</em></figcaption></figure></div><p>Still, as Guiao said, it was too little and too late.</p><p>Omar Abada led Tunisia with 16 points, while Mejri had a double-double of 12 points and 12 rebounds, making 6 of 7 shots. Makram Ben Romdhane also had a double-double of 10 points and 10 boards, and Tunisia shot 48.6% from the field.</p><p>Not only is Gilas no longer in the running for an outright Olympic berth, but their chances of earning a spot in an Olympic Qualifying Tournament also took a hit because of their inferior point differential.</p><p>As of now, Gilas Pilipinas is ranked fourth in Group N, putting Guiao and his crew in the running only for the 29th to 32nd places in the tournament. Only the 16 best non-qualified teams will earn spots to the four OQTs next year.</p><p>Gilas will try to at least end its campaign on a good note when it plays Iran on Sunday in their final game of the World Cup.</p><p>&quot;We&#x27;re just trying to win. Hoping that we can do it with Iran,&quot; said Guiao.</p><div><strong>For more sports coverage, visit the <a href="http://sports.abs-cbn.com">ABS-CBN Sports website</a>.</strong></div>

<p>Gilas Pilipinas continued to struggle in the World Cup, this time dropping its first game of the classification phase to Tunisia 86-67 on Friday night.</p>

Gilas Pilipinas continued to struggle in the World Cup, this time dropping its first game of the classification phase to Tunisia 86-67 on Friday night.

FIBA World Cup: No end in sight to Pinoys’ agony, as Gilas falls to Tunisia

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FIBA World Cup: No end in sight to Pinoys’ agony, as Gilas falls to Tunisia

Camille B. Naredo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Sep 06, 2019 09:32 PM PHT

|

Updated Sep 06, 2019 11:15 PM PHT

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2019 FIBA World Cup

Gilas Pilipinas

Yeng Guiao

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