France slips past Gilas five

Gilas Pilipinas, using the outside shot as its biggest weapon, stayed in the fight before dropping a close 68-75 decision to European champion France at the start of the Antibes International basketball tournament at Azur Arena yesterday in France.

The Filipinos connected on an amazing 12-of-29 attempts from beyond the arc and led by as many as seven points in the fourth period only to fall as the French closed out with a 20-8 run inside the final seven minutes.

Naturalized player Andray Blatche, mainstay of the NBA’s Brooklyn Nets, missed most of the second half due to a slight ankle sprain and managed to return only in the last three minutes.

But the 6-foot-11 center obviously couldn’t play with the same effectiveness that he did in the first half.

Jimmy Alapag, who will likely play his final international tournament in the World Cup in Spain later this month, hit the last of those 12 triples for the Philippines for a 60-55 lead.

But Joffrey Lauvergne answered with back-to-back baskets inside the paint—in the absence of Blatche—and keyed an 11-2 spurt that gave the French a 66-62 lead they never lost the rest of the way.

Nicolas Batum, an NBA veteran with the Portland Trail Blazers, scored all but four of his team-high 16 points in the second half to bail out the French, which played without superstar San Antonio point guard Tony Parker.

It was a tough loss for the hot-shooting Filipinos, who gave the French everything they could handle and made everyone in the pocket tournament take a second look at them.

“Nice effort tonight vs France. Need to keep improving & play better vs Australia tomorrow,” Gilas coach Chot Reyes wrote on his Twitter account @coachot shortly after the narrow defeat against a certified world power.

Gilas winds up its schedule against Ukraine on Sunday (Monday in Manila).

Japeth Aguilar made the French feel the Filipinos’ fighting heart when he “posterized” Indiana center Ian Mahinmi with a thunderous dunk in the first period.

Blatche and Paul Lee paced the Filipinos with 12 points each, with Jeff Chan shooting three treys for nine and Alapag winding up with eight points. Musong R. Castillo

The scores:

FRANCE 75—Batum 16, Lauvergne 12, Pietrus 10, Diot 8, De Colo 8, Fournier 6, Mahinmi 5, Gelabale 5, Gobert 2, Heurtel 2, Diaw 1, Jackson 0.

GILAS PILIPINAS 68—Blatche 12, Lee 12, Chan 9, Alapag 8, De Ocampo 8, Norwood 7, Tenorio 3, Douthit 2, Aguilar 2, David 2, Fajardo 2, Pingris 1, Dillinger 0.

Quarters: 22-20, 35-39, 52-55, 75-68