Gilas Pilipinas’ series of tuneups have ended on a sour note as they fell again in the hands of Lebanon, 60-71, Sunday evening at a packed Meralco Gym in Ortigas, Pasig City.
Gilas was still in it as they were just down three with 6:12 remaining in the fourth, but the Lebanese scored 10 straight en route to a 71-58 lead with 1:37 left to play to seal the win.
The Filipino cagers only scored nine points in the fourth quarter.
Gilas has gone 1-3 in their friendlies this week, with their lone win — an 82-73 win over Jordan — coming via default as the Jordanians walked off the court after a spat between opposing head coaches.
The loss had also served as a rude welcome for 16-year-old, 7-footer Kai Sotto. Sunday’s exhibition had been his very first, as he missed the previous three due to academic commitments.
However, Sotto had one play in the game worth remembering — the second-generation cager tried to dunk all over Lebanese center Ater Majok with 4:07 left in the third. He missed such though.
Sotto — who started the third quarter — finished with two points, all from the charity stripe.
Tempers also flared up with 1:15 left also in the third when the Lebanese contested Greg Slaughter’s drive to the basket as a travel. Luckily, no untoward incidents arose whatsoever.
Stanley Pringle, Marcio Lassiter, Matthew Wright, and June Mar Fajardo were at the forefront of Gilas’ attack.
The Nationals are preparing for the 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers’ fifth window on November 30 to December 3 versus Kazakhstan and Iran, respectively, to be held here in Manila.
The Lebanese, on the other hand, are gearing up for their November 29 match versus South Korea in Busan.
