Connect with us

Hi, what are you looking for?

Tiebreaker Times

2019 SEA Games

Gilas Pilipinas falters vs Alab in tune-up


Gilas Pilipinas’ comeback fell just short and it bowed to San Miguel Alab Pilipinas, 89-93, in their second and final tuneup match, Monday evening at the Meralco Gym in Pasig City.

The Nationals rallied from an 11-point deficit at the start of the payoff period but a full-strength Alab managed to provided responses to their rallies en route to the four-point victory.

Roger Pogoy top-scored Gilas with 14 points, while big men Japeth Aguilar and June Mar Fajardo had 12 points each.

Matthew Wright made 11 points while Christian Standhardinger chimed in 10 markers in the loss which split their friendlies — Gilas beat Alab, 98-95, in their first meeting last November 4.

“They did some things that we weren’t prepared for. They did a lot of switching, which we haven’t worked on in three or four practices,” offered national team head coach Tim Cone.

“They did a good job against our pick-and-roll, and they beat us down the floor. We didn’t get down the floor well defensively. We gotta get better. We gotta get down the floor defensively.”

Gilas went down 67-56 at the beginning of the final frame but Standhardinger, Marcio Lassiter, and LA Tenorio joined hands to lift their side to within one, 68-69, with 7:28 remaining.

Alab, though, managed to widen its lead at 88-80 following free throws by Jason Brickman, but Gilas trimmed the gap to just three, 89-92, after a Japeth Aguilar follow-up with 19.8 seconds left.

Time, though, wasn’t on the side of the Southeast Asian Games-bound team and Alab split its charities on the other end to bag home the victory.

#ReadMore  Matt Nieto tells Gilas to trust Uichico and Baldwin's system: 'Lahat tayo sisikat'

“But the good news is we battled,” the decorated Cone expressed. “Guys were pulling for each other all the time. We were unselfish. We tried hard on defense, although we were disorganized.”

“Those were all the positives that we wanna move forward on. It’s a step back. but I think it’s a good step back that we have. We understand how hard this is gonna be. This is not gonna be easy.”

Gilas did not have Greg Slaughter (dislocated thumb) and Troy Rosario (finger injury) in the match but welcomed Kiefer Ravena, who was called in to take the spot of the injured Jayson Castro.

Alab was led by import Nick King — the team’s replacement for the veteran Renaldo Balkman as he had to go back home in Puerto Rico to attend to family matters — with 23 points.

Alab played with a complete lineup for the first time as King and Khalif Wyatt joined the squad. It now heads to the 10th season of the ASEAN Basketball League that starts this Sunday.

The Scores:

Gilas Pilipinas 89 – Pogoy 14, Aguilar 12, Fajardo 12, Wright 11, Standhardinger 10, Manuel 8, Lassiter 7, Tenorio 7, Pringle 2, Ross 2, Ravena 2, Thompson 2.

Written By

Oftentimes on the sidelines. Forever a student of the game. Morayta-bred.




You May Also Like

Basketball

TNT will live to fight another day following an 86-78 victory over San Miguel in Game 5 of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup...

Basketball

Jericho Cruz and CJ Perez delivered their best showings in the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals to date as San Miguel pummeled TNT,...

Basketball

Winning one PBA Best Player of the Conference (BPC) award is already a challenge, but June Mar Fajardo has been making it look so...

Basketball

San Miguel overpowered a TNT side that had to make do with a thin frontline on the way to a 108-88 victory and build...

Basketball

San Miguel took its fate into its own hands, finishing strongly to beat a woeful TNT, 98-92, and even things out in the PBA Season...

Basketball

TNT got fortunate enough in the endgame and escaped San Miguel, 99-96, to take Game 1 of the PBA Season 49 Philippine Cup Finals,...

Basketball

AJ Edu is ready to step up and take on a bigger role in the frontcourt as Gilas Pilipinas continues to deal with injuries...

Basketball

Tim Cone believes fatigue will be Gilas Pilipinas’ biggest challenge as the national team ramps up preparations for the FIBA Asia Cup 2025 this...

Advertisement