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[av_heading heading=’ Gilas barely escapes Japan in FIBA qualifier’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=” av-medium-font-size-title=” av-small-font-size-title=” av-mini-font-size-title=” av-medium-font-size=” av-small-font-size=” av-mini-font-size=” admin_preview_bg=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
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MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas survived a tough stand by Japan in the second half for a 77-71 victory at the start of the 2019 FIBA World Cup qualifiers last night at the Komazawa Olympic Park and General Sports Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan.
After losing double-digit lead in the first half, Jayson Castro, Andray Blatche, Matthew Wright, and Gabe Norwood took turns on the offensive end as the Gilas scored its first win in the qualifier.
Castro led the way with 20 points. Blatche had double-double 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Wright and Norwood had 12 and 10 points, respectively.
The national men’s basketball team opened the match with a 16-4 lead on inside hits by Blatche, Norwood and Japeth Aguilar. Japan, however, answered back with six straight points to cut the deficit to 18-10.
Japanese pulled even closer in the second quarter at 24-29 on conversions from Makoto Hiejima but the Gilas got timely triples from Castro and Wright for a 37-28 halftime advantage.
Japanese started the third frame with 10 straight points to surge to a 38-37 lead. Both teams had exchanged leads before the Gilas took a 51-46 advantage on a triple from Roger Pogoy.
Gilas had an eight-point lead early in the fourth but Japanese had another surge to come to within 60-63. The Philippines, however, countered with free throws from Wright and a trey from Blatche to stretch the lead to 70-63.
Japanese had its last push at 69-72 on a triple by Yuki Togashi with over a minute left in the game but the Gilas answered with a three-pointer from Castro and a fastbreak layup by Pogoy to seal the victory.
Hiejima finished with 20 points, five rebounds and five assists, while naturalized big man Ira Brown and Daiki Tanaka chipped in with 10 markers each for the Japanese squad.
BOX SCORE:
PHILIPPINES 77 – Castro 20, Blatche 13, Wright 12, Norwood 10, Fajardo 6, Abueva 5, Aguilar 5, Pogoy 5, Ravena 1, Rosario 0, Alas 0.
JAPAN 71 – Hiejima 20, Brown 10, Tanaka 10, Togashi 8, Baba 7, Shinoyama 4, Takeuchi 3, Ota 2, Uto 0.
Quarterscores: 18-10, 37-28, 59-55, 77-71./PN
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