Gilas Pilipinas lead floor general Matt Nieto sprained his right ankle in the Philippines’ game against Thailand, Monday evening at Khalifa Sport City in Manama, Bahrain.
The 23-year-old floor general stepped on the foot of Thai big man Chanatip Jakrawan with 7:06 left in the third frame.
Nieto was carried off the floor and was ruled out of the game.
“He just sprained his ankle. We did not know how bad it is. We will check tomorrow,” said Gilas head coach Jong Uichico after their 93-69 win.
The 6-foot-1 point guard was having himself a game, tallying 12 points on 6-of-8 shooting to go along with three rebounds, three assists, and a steal.
He was averaging just 3.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, and 6.0 assists during the first two games of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers.
Juan Gomez de Liaño and Dwight Ramos will take over floor general duties the rest of the way.