After falling short of a podium finish in Clark, Pampanga a year ago, eGilas Pilipinas returned with a vengeance.
The Philippine Men’s National NBA2K Team dominated the eFIBA World Finals Season 4, capping its campaign with a sweep of Türkiye in the grand finals on Saturday evening (Manila time) at the Mall of Qatar in Doha.
The Philippines defeated Türkiye in the best-of-three championship series in just two games, 64-62 and 68-60, to take home the world championship and $20,000.
After surviving Game 1 thanks to a crucial late defensive stop, eGilas leaned on Miguel “MiguelCarlo” Hubillar in the clincher as he exploded for 32 points and nine assists.
Kenneth “Clue-” Gutierrez backed him with 12 points, four steals, three rebounds, and two assists.
Chris “Vio” Briones and Joshua “JMACC” Machado chipped in nine points apiece, while Prich “DonP” Diez contributed six points and nine rebounds.
It was a dominant championship run for the Laus Group-backed squad, which dropped just one game throughout the two-day tournament.
The Filipinos opened the competition with convincing victories in the group stage, defeating France, 64-53, Algeria, 73-52, and Germany, 72-45.
They then eliminated Lebanon, 67-58, in the upper bracket semifinals.
eGilas, coached by Nite Alparas, faced its stiffest challenge against France in the upper bracket finals.
The Philippines lost the opening game, 61-52, before bouncing back with a 63-59 victory to force a deciding Game 3.
In the decider, the trio of MiguelCarlo, who finished with 24 points and nine assists, JMACC with 19 points, and Vio with 12 points powered the Philippines to a hard-fought 67-64 win to secure a spot in the grand finals.
MiguelCarlo was named the tournament’s Most Valuable Player.
Clue also earned Best Defensive Player honors after averaging 3.0 steals per game throughout the tournament.
Joining them in the All-Star Five was JMACC, who averaged 13.3 points per game. Rounding out the mythical team were France’s Xmambaout and Türkiye’s Canboymm.
