Photo credit: Pilipinas Live
Gilas Pilipinas Men (2-0) survived a late scare from Thailand, 87-72 in their second preliminary round Group C game in the 2023 Asian Games Men's Basketball 5x5 event on Thursday, September 28 at the Zhejiang University Zijingang Gymnasium. [VIDEO]
Gilas shrugged off a slow start, being down by 10 late in the first frame, and unleashed an 8-0 run to end the first quarter, reducing their deficit to 20-22. Gilas used a 21-13 run to regain the lead at the half, with the score at 41-35, and they used a huge 27-15 run in the third quarter to lead 68-50.
In the fourth quarter, the Thais outscored Gilas 22-19, Frederick Lee Jones Lish led Thailand in closing the gap to 65-70 in the middle of the fourth quarter, but it wasn't enough as Gilas recovered.
Justin Brownlee led Gilas in scoring with a double-double performance, contributing 22 points (8/27FG, 5/17 2pts, 3/10 3pts, 3/4ft), to go along with a game-high 15 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 steals and a block in 35 minutes of play. CJ Perez had a solid 16 points, 7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals, while Scottie Thompson had an all-around game of 7 points, 8 rebounds, game-high 9 assists, and 2 steals.
Tyler Lamb led the Thais in a losing effort with 29 points (6/12 3pts), 2 rebounds, 1 assist, and 3 steals, while Frederick Lish added 22 points (4/10 3pts) with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.
Gilas shot 39% from the field (32/82fg), including 8-of-20 shooting from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Thailand had 27 out of 67 field goals and made 13 out of 34 attempts from three-point range. Gilas went 15 out of 23 from the free-throw line, while the Thais made 5 out of 9 free throws. The Philippines outrebounded Thailand, 63-35, PHL had more assists 24-12 and more steals 12-8.
Gilas Pilipinas will play their last preliminary game against Jordan (2-0), led by naturalized Jordanian Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, to compete for the top spot in Group C and secure an outright slot in the quarterfinals on Saturday, September 30, at 5:30 PM [LIVE]. Jordan swept their first two games, beating Thailand 97-63 and Bahrain 84-60.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 87 - Brownlee 22, Perez 16, Fajardo 9, Oftana 8, Thompson 7, Aguilar 6, Newsome 5, Kouame 5, Alas 3, Tolentino 3, Lassiter 3, Ross 0.
THAILAND 72 - Lamb 29, Lish 22, Muangboon 6, J Morgan 5, Jakrawan 4, Klahan 4, Klaewnarong 2, Towaroj 0, Boonserm 0, Jaisanuk 0, M Morgan DNP, Booddoung DNP.
Quarters: 20-22, 41-35, 68-50, 87-72. [VIDEO] | [STATS]
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