MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas attempted to fight back in the fourth quarter but it was not enough. they suffered a 95-80 beating from Lebanon in the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup on late Wednesday night at Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Down by as much as 22 points in the second half, the national men’s basketball team mounted a run behind Samjosef Belangel, Carl Tamayo, Rhenz Abando, William Navarro, and John Paul Erram to cut the deficit to 74-83.
But after brothers Kiefer and Thirdy Ravena, Kevin Quiambao and Bobby Ray Parks Jr. were subbed in, the Lebanese pulled away anew to widen the lead to 17 points with under a minute left.
Wael Arakji spearheaded the offense with 20 points, Jonathan Arledge and Hyak Gyokchyan added 19 markers apiece, while Sergio El Darwich added 10 points as Lebanon tied New Zealand with 1-0 slate.
Belangel paced the national men’s basketball team with 17 points, including three triples, Parks and Tamayo chipped in 15 markers each, while Thirdy Ravena contributed 10 markers.
Gilas Pilipinas had a strong start in the opening quarter behind inside conversions from Tamayo and perimeter hits by Belangel, Thirdy and Parks as they build a 27-22 advantage.
The national team were still hanging around in the second period but the Lebanese responded with a huge scoring run to turn things around and take a 46-39 lead at the halftime break.
Gilas Pilipinas opened the third period with consecutive three-pointers from Parks but was quickly answered by outside conversions from the Lebanese as they padded the lead to double-digits.
As the national team was struggling to find their groove midway in the third quarter, the Lebanese went on with its torrid three-point shooting as the lead grew to its biggest at 22 points.
The Vincent “Chot” Reyes-mentored Gilas Pilipinas will hope to enter the win-column this afternoon as they face India, a team they have defeated in lopsided fashion in the 2023 FIBA World Cup Asia qualifiers two weeks ago.
BOX SCORE:
LEBANON 95 — Arakji 20, Arledge 19, Gyokchan 19, El Darwich 10, Khayat 7, Chamoun 6, Hadidian 6, Ezzedine 5, Mansour 3, Mezher 0, Zeinoun 0.
PHILIPPINES 80 — Belangel 17, Parks 15, Tamayo 15, T. Ravena 10, Chiu 6, K. Ravena 5, Navarro 4, Erram 4, Abando 4, Quiambao 0, Abarrientos 0.
Quarterscores: 22-27, 46-39, 79-58, 95-80./PN
