Angelo Koaume vs Dominican Republic defenders in a Fiba Olympic Qualifying Game. FIBA PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas wrapped up its campaign in the Fiba Olympic Qualifying tournament after absorbing a 94-67 loss to Dominican Republic early Friday in Belgrade, Serbia.
Head coach Tab Baldwin said his team failed to cope with the Dominican Republic’s physicality in the second half and folded under the pressure.
The Filipinos held a 45-51 lead at the start of the third before Dominican Republic went on a crippling 26-10 run to run away with the victory.
“In the second half, they came out very physical and came to make a statement against us. They really did. We didn’t execute what we can execute, what we should execute under the pressure. It was very disappointing in the second half for us,” said Baldwin.
The Filipinos head home winless in the tournament but still managed to impress, especially in their close loss to world No. 5 Serbia the day prior.
They now turn their focus on the preparations for the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup in August.
“We will now head home with lessons in our pocket. Sort of mixed campaign here with a decent performance against Serbia and a disappointing performance tonight. These young men will work hard together and will take this in the chin and learn from the lessons, and build for the future,” said Baldwin.
Jordan Heading finished with 16 points, on 4-of-6 shooting from deep, to lead the Philippines against the world No. 19 team while Ange Kouame added 10 points and six boards.
The Dominican Republic relied on the offensive outbursts of Michael Torres Cuevas, Victor Liz, and Galvis Solano to move on to the knockout stage of the tournament.
Liz finished with 23 points, on 5-of-6 shooting from deep, and two steals while Solano and Torres Cuevas finished with 21 and 20 points, respectively.