Gilas Pilipinas 5.0’s hopes of barging into the FIBA Asia Challenge 2016 Quarterfinal stage came down crashing as they lost to a stronger Jordan squad with a huge margin, 119-105, in their second round encounter Wednesday afternoon in Tehran, Iran.
Von Pessumal, who was scoreless in the last four games prior to this match against Jordan, finally found his stroke and paced Gilas with 30 points highlighed by 9 triples. Guard Mike Tolomia had 19 points, while top forward Mark Belo made 17. Jaymar Perez added 10 markers in today’s loss.
With the 14-point defeat, Gilas ends their Asia Challenge campaign with a dismal 1-4 win-loss slate.
Jordan displayed dominance right in the opening frame, banking on their hot shooting from downtown to leave Gilas behind. With Mousa Alawadi making things happen on offense, the Middle Easterns, from a slim 9-5 lead early, scored 15 straight to post a wide 24-5 lead. PHI, behind Pessumal, Javier, Daquioag, and Belo, came back from the huge lag with a 15-6 run of their own to trim Jordan’s lead to ten, 30-20, but a basket by Ali Zaghab helped Jordan end the first ten minutes in their favor, 32-20.
The Jordanians still possessed the upper hand come the following quarter. With Gilas being able to close within eight, 35-27, behind Pessumal and Belo, Darquavis Tucker starred for Jordan through his impeccable shooting, keeping Gilas at bay once more. From a ten-point, 47-37 lead in the 4:29 mark, Tucker paced Jordan towards a commanding twenty-point advantage, 65-45, to close out the game’s first half. The six-foot-three Tucker already scored 30 in the first half, with 20 from the second quarter alone.
Gilas tried to mount a comeback in the third quarter, but Jordan proved to be too much for the young Filipinos to handle. A Tolomia basket brought Gilas down by just 14, 75-61, but that was the closest they can get as Jordan kept on showcasing their shooting prowess from the perimeter to halt any Gilas surge to take place. The duo of Alwadi and Mohammad Hussein kept on bringing damage to the Philippines, and with Jordan’s collective efforts on both ends clearly dominating the much smaller Filipinos, they ended the third ahead by 27, 99-70.
The Middle Easterns stepped on the gas in the final canto, not allowing Gilas to regain rhythm on the offensive side of the floor. They led by as much as 35, 106-71, with less than eight minutes left. Gilas still kept on fighting back and closed by 17, 114-97, but time was not on their side for another comeback attempt as Jordan re-established their 20-point lead, 117-97, with more than a minute to go. From there, Jordan, despite a scuffle between Hussein and Daquioag in the end-game, never looked back and coasted to a 119-105 win
Three players scored in double-figures for Jordan. Tucker led all scorers with 37 points on 10 of 15 shooting. Hussein had 26, while Alawadi supplied 21 markers. As a team, Jordan shot a decent 48.6 per cent from the field by converting 36 out of 74 shots. They also won the rebounding battle, 55-39, with 13 of them coming from Hussein.
The loss sends Gilas Pilipinas out of the cagefest.
The Scores:
JOR (119) – Tucker 37, Hussein 26, Alawadi 21, Abbas 7, Bzai 6, Eid 6, Zaghab 6, Alhamarsheh 6, Abu Hawwas 2, Abuwazaneh 2, Hadrab 0, Kanaab 0.
PHL (105) – Pessumal 30, Tolomia 19, Belo 17, Perez 10, Daquioag 8, Javier 6, Pogoy 6, Van Opstal 2, Escoto 2, Cruz 0, Gotladera 0.
Quarterscores: 32-20, 65-45, 99-70, 119-105.
