Castro plays sparingly as Gilas bows to Angolans

THE INJURY to Jason Castro was not as bad as Gilas Pilipinas officials had feared, and the fleet-footed point guard returned to action against Angola in a tuneup match Thursday (Friday morning in Manila).

Regarded as the best point guard in Asia, Castro injured his right ankle in a bad fall against Euskadis in a game on Wednesday and underwent an MRI test that revealed no major damage on the foot.

But with the ankle still swollen, Castro played just 15 minutes against Angola as the Filipinos took a fifth straight loss in their tuneup series, 83-74, in San Sebastian, Spain.

33 points, 17 rebounds

Despite getting 33 points and 17 rebounds from naturalized center Andray Blatche, the Filipinos couldn’t turn their fortunes around as the Angolans slowly broke away from a tied first quarter.

Olimpio Cipriano scored 29 points to pace the Angolans, the Fiba Africa champions in 13 of the last 15 years who are ranked 15th in the world.

Reggie Moore, Angola’s naturalized player, scored 14.

The Fiba World Cup opens on Sept. 30 with the Philippines playing Group B matches against Croatia, Argentina, Greece, Puerto Rico and Senegal, needing to win at least two games to march onto the next phase.

Paul Lee, who is also recovering from a bruised hip, did not play for the Philippines. Musong R. Castillo

The scores:

ANGOLA 83—Cipriano 29, Moore 14, Moreira 9, Fortes 7, Joaquim 6, Gomes 5, Mingas 5, Costa 4, Ndoniema 2, Santos 2, Manuel 0, Barros 0.

GILAS PILIPINAS 74—Blatche 33, De Ocampo 9, Norwood 7, Alapag 6, Chan 6, Tenorio 4, Aguilar 4, Fajardo 3, Castro 2, David 0, Belga 0, Dillinger 0, Pingris 0.

Quarters: 17-all, 43-34, 64-50, 83-74