THE SMART-GILAS Pilipinas lost their second straight game after they once again struggled against an import-laced squad, falling to Sporting Aramex, 65-75, at the end of the preliminary round of the 24th Dubai Invitational basketball tournament early yesterday at the Al Ahli gym in Dubai.
Aramex just had too much brawn and experience as they were led by Darrin Dorsey and former PBA import Alpha Bangura.
In contrast, the Gilas chose not to tap any reinforcements for this tournament, opting instead to field in a team mainly composed of collegiate stars mixed with several PBA players and naturalized player Marcus Douthit.
Head coach Chot Reyes said in his tweet after the game that Aramex’s depth was just too much to overcome. Letran’s star wingman Kevin Alas paced the Gilas with 12 points while NLEX’s Matthew Rosser chipped in 11 markers. Garvo Lanete added 10.
The loss was the Nationals’ second in a row as they finished with a 1-2 (win-loss) record at the end of the classification round.
They will next face Sagesse of Lebanon in the quarterfinals early Thursday morning, needing a win in order to make it to the semifinal round. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio