Players and team officials of Gilas Pilipinas with SBP vice chair Ricky Vargas and Fiba Asia secretary general Hagop Khajirian during the awards rite. August dela Cruz/FILE PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—A day after pushing European champion France to its limits, the Philippines couldn’t replicate its good showing in a 97-75 loss to Australia in a four-team pocket tournament Sunday morning (Manila time) in Antibes, France.
Gilas Pilipinas, which gave World No. 8 France a scare before dropping a close 68-75 decision Saturday, stayed in striking distance for three quarters behind naturalized big man Andray Blatche.
But it was a whole different story in the fourth quarter as the Australians, led by the sweet-shooting swingman Ryan Broekhoff, pulled away.
The 6-foot-7 Broekhoff fired a couple of timely 3-pointers as part of Australia’s 25-8 run bridging the third and fourth quarter where the Australians’ lead swelled to 21, 89-68, with 4:29 left.
Blatche carried Gilas, which saw itself trailing by just four, 60-64, after a Gary David triple with 2:39 remaining in the third period, with 20 points and 10 rebounds. Jayson Castro added 12 points.
NBA free agent Aron Baynes, who was part of the San Antonio Spurs’ recent championship romp, led Australia in scoring with 15 points while Broekhoff had 14.
Dante Exum, the fifth overall pick by the Utah Jazz in the 2014 NBA Draft, collected eight points, five rebounds and six assists for Australia, which shot 52% from the field and improved to 2-0 in the tourney.
The Philippines, at 0-2, hopes to post its first win against Ukraine on Monday.
The tournament is part of Gilas’ buildup for the 2014 Fiba World Cup this August 30 in Spain.
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