A well-balanced Gilas Pilipinas attack peppered India on Friday, taking an 88-64 triumph to open their 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers campaign at the SMART Araneta Coliseum.
It was B.League imports Thirdy Ravena and Dwight Ramos who led the charge for the Philippines with the San-En winger finishing with 15 points, two assists, a rebound, and an assist while the Toyama combo guard got 17 points, four rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
(C) Paul Ryan Tan/FIBA Asia
Many expected Gilas, ranked 33rd in the world, to blow out the 80th-ranked India right from the get-go. But it came late as India kept close in the opening frame and were behind by “just” 12 points at the half.
“Well, we talked about taking our first step as a team, being that this is our very first game, to play together as a unit,” said Gilas head coach Chot Reyes. “We expected to struggle a little bit to start.”
The blowout did come in the third quarter.
Kib Montalbo provided the jolt needed by Gilas during that quarter, dropping all eight of his points in a 22-8 blitz. A buzzer-beating triple by the La Salle product put Gilas ahead, 68-47.
(C) Paul Ryan Tan/FIBA Asia
It was all Gilas from there, leading by as much as 26 points in the dying seconds of the contest.
“Just to keep focusing on the things that matter,” said Reyes about his halftime pep talk. “Two things we focused on are the turnovers and rebounds. If we clean up those two things, we would have a better game in the second half. Not so well with the turnovers but we did a much better job in the rebounding.”
Roger Pogoy, who had just recovered from a calf strain, showed no semblance of rust, finishing with 12 points in 16 minutes of play. Robert Bolick, the only non-TNT PBA player in the lineup, added 10 points, four rebounds, an assist, and a steal.
(C) Paul Ryan Tan/FIBA Asia
There were a few scary moments in the game as Troy Rosario re-hurt a finger in his left hand, forcing him to leave the game with 6:16 left. Angelo Kouame, later on, cramped up.
Kelly Williams though played splendidly even at the age of 40, finishing the game with four points, four rebounds, and two steals while going a plus-18 in 15 minutes of play.
(C) Paul Ryan Tan/FIBA Asia
India was led by the 13 points and 10 rebounds of Prashant Singh Rawat. Sahaij Pratap Singh Sekhon also had 14 points.
Despite their second defeat in the competition, India head coach Veselin Matic remained proud of his wards as they did not let the 101-46 beatdown they received from the Tall Blacks a day ago get into their heads.
“We came a lot different and we were more confident,” said Matic. “We hoped to have knocked down our three-point shots. Definitely, after the first game, I’m happy about the game.
“I told you before, we are coming here to change something every day.”
Gilas will have a day break before facing the 2-0 Tall Blacks on Sunday at 6:00 PM. Prior to that, India needs to arrive at the venue at 3:00 PM to be awarded a 20-0 win over Korea.
The Scores:
Philippines 88 – Ramos 17, Ravena 15, Pogoy 12, Bolick 10, Montalbo 8, Kouame 6, Navarro 6, Erram 5, Williams 4, Gomez de Liano 3, Rosario 2.
India 64 – Sekhon 14, Rawat 13, Bhriguvanshi 9, Krishnan 7, Hafeez 6, Singh A. 6, Prince 5, Singh P. 4, Kumar 0, Manjunatha 0.
Quarterscores: 18-13, 44-32, 68-47, 88-64.
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All Group A games of the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers will stream live on GigaPlay. Download it now on Android or IOS.
The second game of each playdate is also livestreamed on SMART Sports.
