Not enough! Gilas bows out of Asian Games after close win over Kazakhstan
Gilas Pilipinas scored a 67-65 victory over Kazakhstan in the Incheon Asian Games but it felt more like a loss.
Needing to win by more than 10 points to grab a chance of making it to the semifinals, Gilas once again fell apart in the end game to allow Kazakhstan to inch closer.
The end-game was against everything basketball should be about as both teams played for the quotient and did not play for the win. Up by two points in the dying seconds, Marcus Douthit shot the ball in the wrong basket in an attempt to force overtime but it was overruled by the referee.
Gilas fouled Kazakhstan but they deliberately missed both free throws. Instead of trying to win the ball game, Gilas wanted to force overtime for another shot at building winning by 11. Instead of going for the victory, Kazakhstan took the loss with a smile as they will take the second spot even with a 1-2 record if Korea wins over Qatar.
After getting benched in the loss to Korea, Douthit led Gilas with 18 points, 14 rebounds, and three blocks. Jimmy Alapag played his last game with Pilipinas written on his chest, scoring 11 points in the contest.
Marc Pingris was not in uniform as he injured his foot against Korea while June Mar Fajardo played less than four minutes in the game.
Douthit started the game by scoring the first 10 points for Gilas. He also quickly got five fouls from the bigs of Kazakhstan. After Douthit was subbed out, Jared Dillinger scored two straight jumpers as he gave Gilas a 12-8 lead after the first 10 minutes.
LA Tenorio nailed a triple halfway through the second quarter and Jimmy Alapag then completed a layup off the break for a 23-15 lead for Gilas. After a free throw from the other side, Gabe Norwood nailed a buzzer-beating three to establish the first double-digit lead for Gilas at 26-16.
Japeth Aguilar scored on a putback dunk on the next play for a 12-point advantage for the Philippines.
Head coach Vitaliy Strebkov was then called for a technical foul, which gave Tenorio two free throws and an extra possession followed by another Aguilar basket for a 32-16 count with two minutes left in the first half.
Alapag ended the first half with a triple for a 35-21 lead for Gilas as David’s long triple came after the buzzer.
Douthit once again led the attack for Gilas in the third quarter. Four points from the big man were followed by a Tenorio basket for a 42-26 lead. A triple from David and a three-point play from Alapag stretched their lead to 18, 50-32, with 2:55 left in the third.
The Philippines held a 52-39 lead heading into the final quarter.
Alapag opened the fourth with his patented pull-up three in transition but Kazakhstan replied with two straight triples to cut the lead down to 10 at 55-45.
Norwood and Dillinger responded with two straight layups to give Gilas a more comfortable 14-point lead.
Gilas endured anxious moments as Kazakhstan cut their lead down to eight at 59-51 after Douthit was called for a technical foul with 6:28 left. But De Ocampo stepped up to drill a triple to bring their lead back up to the required 11.
Timov Sultanov was called for an advantage foul at the 5:13 mark and Tenorio managed a split from the line. Douthit scored another basket down low in the bonus possession for a 65-51 Gilas lead.
Kazakhstan then went on a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to nine points but Douthit responded with a big basket down low for a 67-56 count. The Kazakhs got within seven thanks to the efforts of Pavel Ilin and eventually two as Gilas failed to score another point and instead tried to send the game into overtime.
The scores:
Philippines 67: Douthit 18, Alapag 11, Tenorio 8, David 7, Aguilar 7, Dillinger 6, De Ocampo 5, Norwood 5, Chan 0, Fajardo 0,
Kazakhstan 65: Ilin 21, Kolesnikov 15, Gavrilov 12, Murzagaliyev 10, Klimov 4, Ponomarev 2, Sultanov 1.
