Gilas ends Fiba Asia Challenge stint with beating from Jordan

Gilas vs Jordan in Fiba Asia Challenge in Iran. Photo from Fiba.com

Gilas Pilipinas took its worst loss in the 2016 Fiba Asia Challenge, ending the tournament in disappointing fashion after a 119-105 loss to Jordan Wednesday (Manila time) in Tehran, Iran.

The Philippines never stood a chance against Jordan, which raced to a 24-5 lead.

The Jordanians, led by their naturalized player Lamar Tucker, showed no mercy as they stretched their advantage to 20, 65-45, at the half.

Tucker, who leads the tournament in scoring, was unstoppable on his way to 37 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field.

With the game down to the final seconds, a near scuffle almost broke out after Jordan center Mohammad Hussein decked Ed Daquioag with an unnecessary shoulder tackle with 0.9 tenths of a second left near center court.

Daquioag, the former University of Santo Tomas slotman, stayed down for a few seconds before shaking it off.

Von Pessumal exploded for 30 points on 9-of-12 shooting from the three-point area, but his breakout game came too late as Gilas could’ve used the former Ateneo guard’s outside shooting early in the tournament.

Pessumal was 0-of-11 from the field coming into the game.

The young Filipinos, who were already out of the quarterfinals race despite beating Kazakhstan on Tuesday, finished with a 1-4 record with losses to India and Chinese Taipei.