Alive and kicking
Kai Sotto, CJ Perez and Scottie Thompson made sure their return to the Gilas Pilipinas roster would be impactful.
On Friday, the trio came together and gave the Philippines and its fans something to cheer about as it held off Jordan in overtime, 82-81, in the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers that kept the Filipinos tugging at the coattails of the group leaders.
Kevin Quiambao, meanwhile, didn’t hesitate in grabbing the spotlight on what he later described as a game where he wasn’t as sharp, knocking down the go-ahead triple that broke a 79-all tie with 11.7 seconds left to also stand out as one of the reasons why the Filipinos were able to come through before a sellout crowd at Mall of Asia Arena.
It was a highwire win that put some sense of hope in the Filipinos’ quest to make the global main event for the fourth straight edition, and they get back to work Sunday when they battle formidable Iran with the stakes the same for Gilas—that match again being a must-win.
Quiambao’s three-pointer came off an assist from Perez who, before that shot, had kept Gilas in the game with basket after basket in regulation and the extra five-minute period.
“I would just like to thank CJ for that pass,” Quiambao told a courtside reporter later. “We will enjoy this tonight, but will be back to work (Saturday).”
But that shot almost went for naught after Thompson, who put the clamps on Jordanian ace Jalen Harris, committed a five-second inbound violation that gave Jordan the chance to salvage the game.
Jordan could not, as Abdullah Olajuwon, the son of NBA great Hakeem, ran into Sotto, who came through with a massive block that triggered a thunderous roar from the gallery as practically an entire country erupted in celebration when the final buzzer sounded.
Gilas snapped a four-game skid in the Qualifiers and improved to 3-4 to start off the second round and the fourth window. More importantly, it narrowed the gap not only with Jordan, but also with Iran, which earlier lost, 93-91, to New Zealand, also in overtime.
“It’s a huge thing, because we’ll be back to close the gap even further if we beat Iran [on Sunday],” Perez said as Gilas now sets itself for another difficult battle in less than 48 hours at the same venue.
Australia, which routed Syria, 123-64, earlier, remained unbeaten in Group E to be at 7-0, while New Zealand joined Jordan and Iran in a three-waytie at 5-2, with Gilas at 3-4 and Syria dead last at 2-5.
The top four teams in the group after the Qualifiers get to play in Qatar for next year’s World Cup. And Gilas regained a solid shot with the close win.
While it’s a huge win, the margin of error remains slim for the Philippines as one loss may still jeopardize its ambitions of a fourth successive World Cup appearance.
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