Gilas Pilipinas fails to repeat over Congo in Spain pocket tournament

MANILA, Philippines–Gilas Pilipinas failed to repeat against Congo in an 82-71 loss in Torneo de Malaga Friday at Jose M. Martin Carpena in Malaga, Spain.

The Nationals couldn’t sustain their strong start as Congo got its act together in the fourth quarter where it blew the game wide open.

“We did a good job competing up to the final four minutes where they pulled away. Fatigue was an issue since we just played with nine men all throughout the game,” said Gilas assistant coach Ryan Gregorio.

Gilas, which beat Congo in a scrimmage three days ago,  only had nine players with captain Gabe Norwood out and Kiefer Ravena still serving his Fiba-imposed ban.

#GilasGritAndGrind : #GilasPilipinas suffers first loss versus Congo #SBP #LabanPilipinas #ParaSaBayan #FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/V0wI2D7qEA

— SBP (@officialSBPinc) August 9, 2019

“Gabe’s absence was felt tonight. We lacked the height and the length to compete against Congo,” said Gregorio.

The height disadvantage showed with Congo scoring 40 points in the paint, 10 more than the Philippine side.

It also didn’t help that Gilas was off target from long range, going 8-for-26, coupled with careless play.

“We struggled from the three. When we missed, we couldn’t get the offensive rebounds,” Gregorio also said. “Turnovers also hurt us.”

#GilasGritAndGrind : Cheering for Flag and Country in Spain! #ParaSaBayan #SBP #LabanPilipinas #GilasPilipinas #FIBAWC pic.twitter.com/sJHlImQqzX

— SBP (@officialSBPinc) August 9, 2019

Despite the loss, Gilas still had a few bright spots with young guns Robert Bolick and CJ Perez showing up.

Bolick led the Filipinos with 21 points while Perez collected 11 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.

Andray Blatche had 15 points, eight rebounds and five assists.

Gilas, which is preparing for the Fiba World Cup, aims to bounce back against Ivory Coast on Saturday to end their training camp in Spain