Gilas Pilipinas, Mighty Sports battle to a draw in tuneup

Gilas Pilipinas and Mighty Sports Philippines battle to a draw in a scrimmage Monday at Meralco Gym. Photo by Denison Dalupang/INQUIRER

MANILA, Philippines—Marcio Lassiter and CJ Perez sank two late triples to help bring Gilas Pilipinas to an 85-85 draw against Mighty Sports Philippines in a tuneup game Monday night at Meralco Gym in Ortigas.

Trailing in the first half, Gilas, which is preparing for the FIBA World this August, turned to June Mar Fajardo for production.

Roger Pogoy got it going in the next half to bring the Jones Cup-bound team within striking range.

McKenzie Moore missed what could’ve been the game-winner for Mighty Sports, which paraded a total of five imports, among them Renaldo Balkman and Hamadi Ndiaye, who both played in the PBA and for Puerto Rico and Senegal’s national teams, respectively.

Gilas continued to miss the services of naturalized big man Andray Blatche, as a court hearing pushed his arrival to a later date. He is set to join the Nationals either July 12 or 13, according to national team coach Yeng Guiao. 

Mighty Sports, coached by former Gilas mentor Rajko Toroman, is due to leave for Taipei on Wednesday.