Photo credit: FIBA
World no.37 Gilas Pilipinas Men put up a gallant stand but fell short against the world no. 15 Poland men's national basketball team in their friendly match on Saturday, June 29 at the Arena Sosnowiec, ArcelorMittal Park, in Sosnowiec, Poland. [FULL REPLAY VIDEO]
Following their 84-73 loss to Turkey, the Gilas team gave a strong performance against Poland in their final tune-up game before the OQT Riga. Poland are also preparing for their OQT Valencia campaign and coming off a big 88-59 win against New Zealand yesterday.
Gilas had a strong start and ended the first quarter leading 23-16. Poland came alive in the second quarter, outscoring the Philippines 25-15 and reclaiming the lead at halftime, 41-38. They battled in a close third quarter as Poland retained their lead, 58-56.
At the start of the fourth quarter, Poland unleashed a 9-0 run to extend the lead to 67-56 with 7 minutes left. The hosts waxes hot in beyond the arc to extend the lead to 14. Dwight Ramos led the Gilas fightback in the final minutes but fell short. Missed opportunities from the free-throw line proved costly for Gilas.
Justin Brownlee led Gilas in a losing effort with game-high 30 points. Dwight Ramos finished with 16 points, to go with 9 rebounds, 5 assists, and 3 steals, while June Mar Fajardo had 10 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. Kai Sotto with 8 points,11 rebounds and 5 assists.
Gilas shot 52% from the field (32/61fg), including 7-of-17 shooting from beyond the arc. Poland had 28 out of 61 field goals and made 11 out of 24 attempts from three-point range. Gilas went 9 out of 14 from the free-throw line, while Poland made a perfect 15 out of 15 free throws. The Philippines outrebounded Poland, 42-21, Poland with more assists (21-20), steals (15-9), and blocks (6-2), while Gilas committed more turnovers (23-13).
The Philippines will travel to Riga, Latvia for the 2024 FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament (OQT Riga), where only one spot in the Paris Olympics is up for grabs. Gilas is scheduled to compete against the 6th-ranked team in the world, Kristaps Porzingis-less Latvia, on July 3 at 11:55pm PHL time, followed by a match against 23rd-ranked Georgia on July 4 at 8:30pm PHL time. [LIVE]
The scores:
POLAND 82 - Sokołowski 21, Balcerowski 10, Pluta 8, Sochan 8, Ponitka 7, Zyskowski 6, Milicić 5, Dziewia 5, Michalak 5, Nizioł 5, Mazurczak 2, Żołnierewicz 0.
PHILIPPINES 80 - Brownlee 30, Ramos 16, Fajardo 10, Sotto 8, Newsome 6, Aguliar 4, Tamayo 4, Perez 2, Oftana 0, Quiambao 0.
Quarters: 16-23, 41-38, 58-56, 82-80. [FULL REPLAY VIDEO]
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