Gilas Pilipinas was denied of an opportunity to face host Spain in the four-team pocket tournament after suffering an 82-71 loss to Congo early Saturday Manila time in Malaga.
The Nationals were given plenty of problems by the Congolese cagers, who got a measure of revenge after suffering a 102-80 defeat at the hands of Gilas earlier this week in Guadalajra.
Robert Bolick scored 21 points and naturalized player Andray Blatche added 15 for the Philippines, which will face Ivory Coast in a battle for third place on Sunday.
Bolick highlighted his performance by finishing with a 3-of-5 shooting from the 3-point area while Blatche had eight rebounds, five assists and three steals.
Ivory Coast was beaten 79-62 by Spain in the other match of the pocket tourney. Sunday’s game will be a rematch of their earlier meeting Guadalajara which saw Gilas rallying in the second half for a 94-83 win.
Gilas had only nine players in uniform as Gabe Norwood is still recovering from a mild groin strain and Kiefer Ravena remains suspended by FIBA.
Ravena, who is two weeks shy from being reinstated, did spend the game doing play-by-play using his Twitter account.
Gilas led 33-32 at the break but was forced to play catch-up after committing key turnovers in the second half.
Bolick’s basket trimmed Gilas’ deficit to seven, 68-61, with 5:30 left in the fourth but Congo answered with eight straight points to extend the gap to 76-61.
Gilas deputy coach Ryan Gregorio fatigue could have contributed to their setback.
“Fatigue was an issue since we played with nine men all throughout the game,” said Gregorio.
The Nationals got off to a fine start, taking a 29-20 lead before settling for a 33-32 lead at the half.
And while the Congolese made their shots from afar, the Nationals had little success this time, making just 8-of-26 from three-point range (30.8 percent) compared to Congo’s high 41.2 percent (7-of-17). (JONAS TERRADO)
