Jordan Clarkson says undeterred Gilas will continue to compete

Gilas Pilipinas’ Jordan Clarkson. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

MANILA, Philippines—Despite dropping another heartbreaker at home, there’s no stopping Gilas Pilipinas from competing hard as far as Jordan Clarkson is concerned.

A victory remained elusive for Gilas on Thursday night following an 87-68 loss to South Sudan in the Fiba World Cup classification round.

Still, Clarkson said Gilas will continue to fight heading into its final game against rival China on Saturday.

“Tough one again. I feel like I’m coming back and saying the same thing. Tough game. We’re playing a hard fight. That’s all I could say right now. The team is competing,” Clarkson said at Araneta Coliseum.

“They were making shots. We made adjustments which was the reason why we started coming back in the game. They made another adjustment and finished the game out.”

Gilas Pilipinas against South Sudan in the Fiba World Cup classification. -MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Gilas fell behind by as many as 20 in the second quarter before battling back within six in the fourth.

South Sudan, however, regained control late led by Carlik Jones, who nearly made World Cup history after coming just a rebound shy of a triple-double with 17 points, nine rebounds and 14 assists.

The Utah Jazz guard topscored for Gilas once again with 24 points, sinking four triples in the process, while Dwight Ramos added 20 points and 12 rebounds.

AJ Edu also notched a double-double with 12 points and 14 rebounds.

“[We’ll watch] film, practice. Try to figure out what to do. We just didn’t get it done [tonight].”

Rubbing salt to Gilas’ wounds, Japan defeated Venezuela, 86-77, to boot the Philippines out of contention for the lone Asian Olympic slot.