Jimmy Alapag of the Philippines (C) handles the ball against South Korea during their men’s quarter-final group H basketball match at Samsan World Gymnasium Ground during the 17th Asian Games in Incheon on September 27, 2014. AFP PHOTO/Bay ISMOYO
MANILA, Philippines — The gold medal, which seemed reachable just several weeks back, is now a far-fetched idea.
A year after the Philippines mended a string of heartbreaks here, South Korea cut open a new one that would definitely take long to heal with a 97-95 win over Gilas Pilipinas before a hometown crowd at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon Saturday.
Gilas blew a double-digit advantage twice, including a commanding 68-52 lead it built in the third quarter.
The loss may likely pave the way for the Filipino cagers to go home empty-handed with their fate now out of their hands.
A win by Qatar, which shocked Gilas, 77-68, Friday night, over Kazakhstan later abruptly ends the Philippines’ medal bid as they will be relegated to the consolation phase.
For the Philippines to advance to the semifinals, Kazakhstan has to beat Qatar later by a slim margin and Gilas needs to blow out Kazakhstan and Korea has to win over Qatar on Sunday.
Skipper Jimmy Alapag, who is in his final stint donning the national colors, carried the country on his shoulders anew and finished with 25 points built on five triples to go along with four assists.
Korean-American Moon Taejong scored a game-high 38 points, including eight unanswered, that gave Korea an 84-82 lead with 5:33 left.
Gilas regained the lead, 89-88, on a free throw by LA Tenorio with 1:18 left before Yang Heejong scored inside and out in the next two offensive trips for Korea including a dagger of a trey to push its team’s lead to four, 93-89, with only 31.9 seconds to go.
Naturalized center Marcus Douthit didn’t play as a disciplinary action, according to reports.
Tenorio and Jeff Chan added 20 and 16 points, respectively.
Gilas suffered its third straight setback starting with a loss to Iran last Wednesday.
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