Terrence Romeo hasn’t made a splash so far in his Gilas debut. Photo from Fiba.com
TERRENCE Romeo drilled back-to-back triples late in the fourth quarter and carried Gilas Pilipinas to a 72-69 victory over undermanned China on Sunday night (Monday morning in Manila) to finish third in the Imperial City tournament at Land Rover Arena in Bologna, Italy.
The 5-foot-10 Romeo rose to the occasion when the game was on the line as the Filipinos booked a first win on the road after taking lopsided defeats at the hands of Turkey in Istanbul and Italy at the start of this pocket tournament Saturday.
Gilas played like one well-oiled machine—just over five hours after head coach Tab Baldwin announced the team’s final roster.
The win avenged somewhat the Filipinos’ lopsided loss to the Chinese in Changsha, Hunan province, last year as the hosts booked an outright Olympic slot and relegated Gilas to an Olympic Qualifying Tournament, set to start next week at Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay.
Romeo scored 13 of his team-high 18 points in the final frame, with naturalized center Andray Blatche shooting 14 and gunslinger Jeff Chan adding 10.
China played without NBA veteran Yi Jianlian and the reedy Zhou Qi, who was selected in the second round by the Houston Rockets in last week’s rookie draft.
Gilas will have one final tune-up game—a return bout with Turkey—on July 1, before the OQT proper unfolds July 5.
The Filipinos were dealt a severe beating by Turkey, 103-68, before falling to the Italians and Danilo Gallineri, 106-70, on Saturday night.
Gilas is bracketed with France and New Zealand in the OQT and will open up against the French and NBA superstar Tony Parker at 9 p.m. on July 5. Musong R. Castillo
The scores
GILAS PILIPINAS 72—Romeo 18, Blatche 14, Chan 10, Castro 9, Reyes 5, Fajardo 5, Pingris 3, Rosario 3, Norwood 2, Aguilar 2, Parks 1, De Ocampo 0.
CHINA 69—Zhou 18, Zhai 15, Ding 11, Wang 9, Zhao 5, G. Li 4, Zou 4, Sui 2, Jia 1, Q. Zhou 0, M. Li 0, Guo 0, Kelambaike 0, Y Zhao 0.
Quarters: 22-23, 34-all, 54-51, 72-69