The Gilas Pilipinas kept its hopes for the top spot in Group E alive after escaping Qatar, 80-70, in the second round of the preliminaries of the 27th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship last night at the Mall of Asia Arena.
The Nationals are in hot pursuit of the top spot at the end of this round in order to avoid a knockout match-up with the Asian champions China in the quarterfinal stage, which starts on Friday.
They put themselves on good footing with a stellar showing at both ends of the floor, anchored by the steady play of naturalized player Marcus Douthit and the high-flying Japeth Aguilar, who had several slam dunks in the game en route to tallying 14 points and seven rebounds.
Douthit suffered a leg injury in the third canto but valiantly played through the pain in the fourth when Qatar nipped at the Nationals’ heels, ended up with 19 points, 14 rebounds and four assists. Jeff Chan added 12 markers.
The Gilas took control of the game with a sizzling second-period performance that was highlighted by a 21-2 run capped off by five straight points by Gary David for a 47-27 lead at halftime.
The Gilas raised the lead to a high of 23, 57-34, with 4:18 left in the third but Qatar chipped away at the deficit and came as close as seven, 67-74, after a basket by Mansour Elhadary with 53.4 seconds remaining.
The hosts refused to blink and scored six straight points that was punctuated by a thunderous alley-hoop slam by Aguilar, which emphatically sealed the win.
The Gilas take on Hong Kong tonight at 8:15 p.m. hoping for a win that will give the Nationals a 4-1 (win-loss) record.
The Philippines will also be hoping for Qatar to beat Chinese Taipei to forge a three-way tie at 4-1, which would force organizers to utilize the Olympic quotient system to determine the seedings heading to the quarterfinals.
Since the Philippines won by more than six points against Qatar, a tie at 4-1 will give the Nationals the top spot in group E. If this happens, the Gilas will take on the fourth-seed team in group F, which may be Kazakhstan.
Jarvis Hayes led Qatar with 17 points and 11 rebounds but had a tough night from the field, making just seven of his 17 attempts. He was hounded all-night by the defense of Gabe Norwood.