Angola dimmed Gilas Pilipinas’ chances of making it to the second round after securing an 80-70 win in the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023 Group A in front of a massive home crowd at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
Gilas initially led by as much as 11 points during the second quarter but struggled to maintain momentum as the Black Antelopes capitalized on their errors. This led to a 16-point surge, giving them a 73-57 advantage in the fourth quarter, fueled by triples from Gerson Congalves and Gerson Domingos.
The Philippines mounted a last-minute effort to salvage a win, with Jordan Clarkson swiftly scoring four points and spearheading an 11-0 run that reduced the deficit to just five points, 68-73, with 1:12 left in the game.
However, Domingos effectively quashed the Filipino’s hopes by sinking a pivotal three-pointer with only 47 seconds remaining.
Gilas Pilipinas now stands at 0-2 in the standings and must secure a victory by at least 13 points against Italy, while hoping for an Angola loss to the Dominican Republic, in order to advance from the first round. Conversely, Angola’s chances were bolstered with their 1-1 record.
“We did get off to a nice lead early, but we knew that Angola was going to make a comeback. We just got hammered on the boards. We gave up 20 offensive rebounds to the other team, and ultimately, that was the story,” remarked Philippines head coach Chot Reyes.
“I thought we took care of the ball much better tonight. We just couldn’t make shots — shooting 18 percent from three points won’t cut it. We only made four out of 22 three-point attempts. We held them to below 40 percent field goal shooting, but you know, basketball is a game of points, and if you can’t score enough points, it’s hard to win,” he continued.
Clarkson led the charge for Gilas with 21 points on 7-of-22 shooting, in addition to seven assists and three rebounds.
For the Philippines, Dwight Ramos, RR Pogoy, and Sotto each contributed eight points in their second consecutive loss – the seventh overall – in the World Cup.
Gilas will be seeking a miracle when they face Italy on Tuesday at 8:00 p.m Angola, on the other hand, will strive to secure a spot in the second round against the Dominican Republic.
On the opposing side, Congalves led the Black Antelopes with 17 points, six rebounds, and two steals, while Domingos registered 15 points and seven assists.
Atlanta Hawks center Bruno Fernando added 14 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and one block for Angola, who began the tournament with a 67-81 loss to Italy.
The Scores:
Angola 80 – Goncalves 17, Domingos 15, Fernando 14, Bango 10, de Sousa 10, Dundao 4, Kokila 4, Francisco 3, Paulo 2, Monteiro 1, Maconda 0, Fernandes 0.
Philippines 70 – Clarkson 21, Edu 9, Sotto 8, Pogoy 8, Ramos 8, Perez 7, Fajardo 4, Ravena 3, Abando 2, Thompson 0, Malonzo 0, Aguilar 0.
Quarterscores: 12-19; 36-33; 56-52; 80-70.
