Gilas Pilipinas lost steam in the fourth quarter and ultimately bowed to a vengeful Lebanon, 75-54, in its penultimate outing in the 2nd Doha International Cup at the QU Sports & Event Complex Sunday morning (Manila time).
The Philippine team was only down by a point, 51-50, after AJ Edu opened the final frame’s scoring fray. But it could not muster enough strength to pull off a comeback as they did versus Qatar barely 24 hours ago.
Instead, the crew succumbed to the Cedars’ defense, committing turnovers that enabled the opposition to string together a 14-0 — capped by a Jad Khalil triple off an Ater Majok screen — toward a 65-50 lead with 5:04 remaining.
The Lebanese, competing without reigning FIBA Asia Cup MVP Wael Arakji, would go on to cruise to their first win of the three-day pocket tournament after suffering an 82-70 defeat at the hands of Egypt on Saturday night.
Justin Brownlee finished with 21 points and 11 rebounds for Gilas, which only scored six points in the fourth while their counterparts poured 24.
Calvin Oftana was the only other double-digit scorer for Coach Tim Cone’s side with 10.
Meanwhile, Dwight Ramos and June Mar Fajardo combined for only seven points after dropping 15 and 12, respectively, in the victory against the Qataris.
Scottie Thompson supplied seven points and 11 rebounds for the Filipino dribblers, who actually held a 46-40 lead during the third quarter.
That, before the quartet of Karim Zeinoun, Khalil, Ali Mezher, and Gerard Hadidian joined hands to make sure that they’d end the frame with Lebanon ahead, 51-48, and momentum would shift in their favor from then on.
Hadidian and Khalil bannered the Cedars’ offense with 18 points apiece. Zeinoun delivered 13 points, while the 6-foot-11 Majok added 12 points.
Gilas (1-1) will look to finish the tournament with a win against Egypt on Monday at 1:30 AM Manila time.
The Scores:
Lebanon (75) – Hadidian 18, Khalil 18, Zeinoun 13, Majok 12, Mezher 8, Rtail 4, Makhlouf 2, Khoueiry 0, Samaha 0, Moussa 0.
Philippines (54) – Brownlee 21, Oftana 10, Thompson 7, Edu 6, Ramos 5, Fajardo 2, Newsome 1, Quiambao 1, Perez 1, Tamayo 0, Amos 0, Malonzo 0.
Quarterscores: 13-12, 26-28, 51-48, 75-54.
