Heartbreak City: Gilas falls short in 4-point loss to Argentina
Gilas Pilipinas gave the third-ranked Argentina all they could handle for four quarters but they just could not make a play down the stretch to allow the South American team to escape with an 85-81 victory.
Down by just two points with seconds left in the game, Gilas had a shot to tie or take the lead but Jayson Castro lost the handle on a three-point attempt, which led to a turnover.
Jimmy Alapag led a mighty comeback bid for Gilas as he nailed five triples for Gilas in the second half but he was not able to hold the ball in the dying moments of the game.
With the loss, Gilas will now need to defeat Puerto Rico and Senegal and hope that both teams lose all of their remaining games.
Andray Blatche opened the scoring for the Philippines with a put back. He tipped in another LA Tenorio miss for a 4-0 Gilas lead. However, the naturalized Filipino committed two early fouls against Luis Scola, which led to two made free throws for Argentina.
Jayson Castro and Ranidel De Ocampo nailed early triples for the Philippines to built a 17-7 lead, their first time to get a double-digit lead in the tournament.
Argentina went on a 5-0 run but Gabe Norwood replied with a nasty one-handed slam on Scola. The high-scoring Argentina forward then had to step out of the game also because of two personal fouls.
Walter Herrman ended the first quarter with a triple to cut the Philippines’ lead down to three, 25-22.
Paul Lee and De Ocampo opened the second quarter with seven straight points to re-establish a double-digit lead, 32-22. Like in the first quarter, Argentina replied with a 6-0 run to bring the lead down to four points.
June Mar Fajardo then scored two straight baskets for a 36-28 Gilas lead. A tip-in from Scola and free throws from Pablo Prigioni.
Back-to-back triples from Argentina gave them their first taste of the lead at 38-36. The Philippines then turned the ball over, leading to a Scola basket.
Blatche replied with a basket but Argentina fluked in a triple at the buzzer to grab a 43-38 lead at the half.
Argentina opened the second half with a fastbreak layup but De Ocampo scored a booming triple. Andres Nocioni answered with a triple of his own on the other side for a 48-41 Argentina lead.
Gilas ripped off a 5-0 run thanks to Blatche and Tenorio to cut Argentina’s lead down to just two points at 48-46. Norwood then slammed his second poster of the night to knot the game at 48-all.
The Philippines then hurried their offense leading to bad misses and turnover to allow Argentina to build a ten-point lead at 61-51.
With Blatche hobbled on defense, Argentina built a 15-point lead. With nothing going on for Gilas, captain Jimmy Alapag stepped up with back-to-back triples to cut Argentina’s lead down to nine, 68-59.
Marcos Mata countered with a triple for Argentina but Blatche ended the quarter with a layup to cut their deficit 71-61 heading into the final quarter.
De Ocampo and Alapag opened the fourth quarter with eight straight points to cut Argentina’s lead down to two at 71-69 with still more than eight minutes left in the game.
Argentina replied with two straight triples, 77-69, as the Gilas defense allowed them to take threes with a zone defense.
Gilas got close against as Alapag nailed another triple, his fourth of the second half, to cut Argentina’s lead down to three, 79-76.
Alapag nailed a three from the parking lot to cut Argentina’s lead down to a single point, 82-81, with two minutes left in the game.
Blatche missed on a go-ahead triple and Gilas gave Argentina multiple shots at the basket by yielding offensive rebounds. Nocioni scored a free throw with 42.9 seconds left to extend their lead to two, 83-81.
That set up Gilas' make-or-break offensive. But Castro lost control of the ball while being challenged on a potential game-winning triple, and the shifty guard committed a turnover. Two free throws by Nocioni with six seconds left iced the game.
The scores:
Argentina 84: Scola 19, Mata 17, Laprovitolla 10, Herrmann 10, Nocioni 9, Campazzo 9, Prigioni 8, Guttierez 3.
Philippines 81: De Ocampo 18, Alapag 15, Blatche 14, Castro 11, Norwood 6, Fajardo 6, Lee 6, Tenorio 3, Aguilar 2, Pingris 0, Chan 0.
