Gilas Pilipinas during practice in Lithuania. SBP PHOTO
MANILA, Philippines—Gilas Pilipinas fell to the Lithuania selection squad, 90-80, in a tune-up match on Tuesday in Kaunas, Lithuania.
After winning back-to-back games over a young Ukraine side, the Filipinos got off to a sluggish start and trailed by 17 early after allowing the Lithuanians to score 36 points in the first quarter.
The home team led by as many as 24 with a 54-30 lead in the second quarter before Gilas made a run to trim it down to 12, 54-42. But the Lithuanians still imposed their will after the halftime break behind Tomas Zdanavicius’ stellar play.
Zdanavicius was nearly unstoppable as he led his eight-man team with 25 points, hitting 6-of-7 from the three-point line and tallying seven rebounds and four assists.
Vytautas Sulskis was also instrumental for Lithuania with 19 points and nine rebounds. Justinas Ramanauskas scored 12 points and dished out nine assists, while Rokas Pocius added 10 markers and nine boards.
Gilas leaned on Justin Brownlee’s 20-point and seven-rebound effort which wasn’t enough as the Nationals have now dropped three of their five tune-up matches as part of their build-up for the Fiba World Cup 2023 starting on August 25.
Jamie Malonzo displayed an all-around game with 14 points, nine rebounds, and six steals. June Mar Fajardo put up 13 points, while Kiefer Ravena had 10 points and four assists.
Ange Kouame, one of the three Gilas’ naturalized players, saw action for the first time after his graduation in Ateneo but only played over six minutes and finished with four points.
Gilas, which shot 29-of-73 from the field and got outrebounded by Lithuania, 46-39, missed Scottie Thompson, while Dwight Ramos only played over three minutes.