Gilas Pilipinas loses anew

The Philippines lost to Angola 80-70, their second straight defeat in the ongoing Gilas FIBA  2023 World Cup, as the window to the next round has started to close.

Down by 16 points in the fourth quarter 73-57, Gilas mounted a comeback with less than three minutes left to play, bringing the lead down to five 73-68.

But Angola was able to fend off the rally with their booming and crucial treys breaking the Filipinos on the comeback.

Thousands of Filipinos watching the game live at the Araneta Coliseum were stunned as the Philippine team struggled from beyond the arc, with Gilas only making four out of their 22 attempts (18%).

Gerson Goncalves led Angola with 17 points, as Gerson Domingos had 15 markers, including the dagger three from the corner pocket to seal their first win in this year’s World Cup.

NO HELP

Only NBA player Jordan Clarkson scored in double digits with 21 points.

Clarkson made highlight plays during the run, including an assist on an and-one finish by AJ Edu, as part of an 11-0 run that brought them back into the game with 1:12 remaining.

AJ Edu had nine points while Kai Sotto had eight. RR Pogoy and Dwight Ramo also finished with 8 points each,

SUFFOCATING DEFENSE AND TURNOVERS

The Philippines fell to the suffocating defense especially on Clarkson, who was shadowed all throughout the game. 

Gilas was also outrebounded and committed a lot of turnovers. 

Gilas is currently at the bottom of the standings at 0-2. Dominican Republic leads Group A with 2-0, followed by Italy and Angola with 1-1.

The Philippines mathematically still has a chance of advancing to the next round. 

However they need to first beat number 10 Italy on the final day of the group’s games and Japan needs to lose their next game.

The Philippines returns to action on Tuesday, August 29, against Italy at 8 p.m.