Brownlee’s rally go down the drain as Gilas falls short vs Jordan

Justin Brownlee’s (No. 32) scoring spree in the second half goes to waste after the Philippines bows to Jordan in nonbearing match. —AUGUST DELA CRUZ

As far as no-bearing games go, this one had stung quite a bit.

Ask Scottie Thompson, who was apologetic for missed two crucial free throws.

“I let a lot of Filipinos down tonight,” Thompson said Monday night.

Gilas Pilipinas rallied hard in the second half after getting knocked around at the start, but failed to close the deal in a 91-90 defeat to Jordan at the close of both countries’ Fiba (International Basketball Federation) World Cup Asian qualifiers stint at Philippine Arena.

And those missed freebies by the reigning PBA Most Valuable Player Thompson proved to be the downfall of the Filipinos, who are already qualified for the basketball showcase in August but are using the qualifiers as a means to build the best squad for the World Cup.

And probably learn a few lessons as well.

“Even though we lost, we are definitely going to learn a lot from this,” said Justin Brownlee. “I had a lot of joy playing with the guys, for the flag and for the Philippines. It’s a life memory.”

Reminder

“I think missing those free throws was a good way to remind me that I still have to improve,” Thompson, the Barangay Ginebra guard said to be a cinch for a World Cup spot, said. “We came up short and we could have won had it not been for those missed free throws. I had fouls down the stretch, including one that surprised us. I’ll learn from this for sure.”

Scottie Thompson: Biggest missed free throws ko sa career ko. #FIBAWC2023 | @LanceAgcaoilINQ pic.twitter.com/wlwNuV77rx

— INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) February 27, 2023

Brownlee fired 41 points, coming out hot after the halftime break to fire up the Filipinos in a blazing comeback that turned a wide open game into a you-or-me affair down the stretch.

“You saw the will, the energy and the fight in this team. Filipino basketball is about playing with heart and giving it all you’ve got and that’s what we did,” the naturalized player said on the heels of the loss that had the Philippines settling for a 6-4 win-loss card.

“In the first half, I think it’s just our defense. You gotta give Jordan a lot of credit. If we were able to tighten our defense in the first half, the game would’ve been different,” he added.

Jamie Malonzo added 11 for the Philippines.

‘We knew the problem’

Dar Tucker and Freddy Ibrahim joined hands in a blistering first half where the Jordanians converted half of their 24 attempts from three-point land to go up by as many as 25 points, 41-16.

“We came here, we knew that they beat us at home and we knew the problem and why they beat us,” Tucker said. “I’ve got nothing but respect on every player on that team, but we just concentrated more and try to focus more on shooting. And that’s what we did, we were successful at it.”

Unable to draw added energy from a crowd visibly thinner than Friday’s attendance against Lebanon, the Filipinos dug inward as Brownlee and Malonzo narrowed the gap, only for the visiting Falcons turn to Zaid Abbas to stretch the lead to 19 entering the halftime break.

The Philippines recorded 17 triples in their win over Lebanon three nights ago, but the hot shooting was on the other side of the court in the first two quarters as Jordan drained 12 three-pointers before heading to the locker room with a 60-41 lead.

After Thompson’s missed free throws with 31 seconds remaining and the game pegged at its final count, the Philippines still had a chance to turn the result around. But Ray Parks Jr., whose hard work on both ends of the floor in the second half aided the Gilas rally, missed the potential game-winner.

The Philippines’ next big tournament is the Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia this May where the Filipinos hope to reclaim their lofty perch.

Jordan, which got a free ride to the main tournament a few days ago, also finished with a 6-4 record.

—WITH A REPORT FROM LANCE AGCAOILI