Photo by Mark Giongco/INQUIRER.net
Gilas Pilipinas fell short in its first test after bowing to Jordan, 98-92, in a scrimmage Monday night as part of its buildup for the Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers before a packed crowd at Meralco Gym.
The Filipinos climbed back from a deep hole early and even took the lead but failed to sustain their form when it mattered most.
“We’re a little bit rusty but there’s still a lot of room for improvement,” said national team coach Yeng Guiao
“We’ve had some good stretches but we also had some bad stretches. Our execution is not good. We have to fine-tune our execution on both ends.”
Marcio Lassiter kept Gilas in the thick of the fight late but Jordan turned to its veteran forward Zaid Abbas to keep the Filipinos at bay.
Abbas led all scorers with 24 points Christian Standhardinger had 21 for the Philippines.
Gilas plays Jordan for the second time in another tuneup on Wednesday.