[av_one_full first min_height=” vertical_alignment=” space=” custom_margin=” margin=’0px’ padding=’0px’ border=” border_color=” radius=’0px’ background_color=” src=” background_position=’top left’ background_repeat=’no-repeat’ animation=”]
[av_heading heading=’ Gilas blows past Iraq, 84-68, in Fiba Asia ‘ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
BY ADRIAN STEWART CO
[/av_heading]
[av_textblock size=” font_color=” color=”]
MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas turned to Christian Standhardinger and Terrence Romeo in the second half to score an 84-68 victory over Iraq in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup last night at the Nouhad Nawfal Arena in Beirut, Lebanon.
Holding to a slim 32-31 lead at the half, the national men’s basketball team leaned on 10 straight points by Filipino-German Standhardinger from the inside to build a 42-35 advantage.
Romeo then continued the offensive run for the Gilas with seven straight points to widen the lead further to its largest at 60-39 on back-to-back hits by Carl Bryan Cruz and Roger Pogoy.
The Iraqis tried to make a last run in the fourth quarter with consecutive three pointers but the Gilas regained its advantage on three pointers by Gabe Norwood, Romeo and Pogoy.
Romeo led the way with 17 points, with 14 coming in the second half, while Standhardinger added 16 markers for the Gilas, which scored a follow-up to its 96-87 win over China on Wednesday.
The Gilas had a slow start in the match against the rugged Iraqis and trailed by as much as five points but the national men’s basketball team managed to come up with baskets late in the second period for a 33-32 lead.
With the victory, the Vincent “Chot” Reyes-mentored squad remained on top of Group B with 2-0 win-loss slate and are assured of an outright quarterfinals seat regardless of the outcome of its match against Qatar on Sunday.
Only the winners from each of the four groups following round robin play advance directly to the quarterfinals while the second- and third-placed teams from each bracket figure in knockout matches to determine the last four quarterfinalists.
BOX SCORE:
PHILIPPINES 84 – Romeo 17, Standhardinger 16, Cruz 11, Pogoy 9, Wright 8, Norwood 8, Aguilar 5, Jalalon 4, Abueva 3, Almazan 2, Castro 1.
IRAQ 68 – Galloway 23, Hamzah 12, Al-Khafaji 8, Ismael 6, Hamad 5, Hameed 5, Abdullah 3, Talib 2, Dhafer 2, Algburi 2, Alazawi 0, Aljuboori 0.
Quarterscores: 17-19, 33-32, 60-40, 84-68./PN
[/av_textblock]
[/av_one_full]
