Photo from Fiba.com
South Korea slapped yet another loss to continental rival Gilas Pilipinas, 118-86, ending what had been a promising Fiba Asia Cup campaign by the Filipinos in Beirut.
The Filipinos ran right smack into the deadliest shooting display by any country in the biennial showcase as the Koreans hit 16 triples and shot at a 67-percent clip to silence a huge stunned crowd of OFWs at Nouhad Nawfal Stadium in the game that ended early Thursday morning in Manila.
It was the first loss in four games for the Filipinos, who finished way short of duplicating silver medal finishes in the last two editions of the tournament by bombing out of the quarterfinals.
Korea played with flawless precision all game and made the Filipinos look a shade of the team that humbled the Chinese, 96-87, last week.
The Koreans advanced to take on 2013 champion Iran in the Final Four after Hamed Haddadi and Co. scored an 80-70 decision of Lebanon.
Terrence Romeo provided the silver lining for the Filipinos with a 22-point effort in the second quarter, where he rallied Gilas to within eight points.