By REYNALD MAGALLON
The desperately needed miracle everyone was praying for unfortunately didn’t come for Gilas Pilipinas.
The Nationals gave their all but simply couldn’t do anything against a hot-shooting Italy which finally broke out of its shooting slump en route to a 90-83 domination of Gilas in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Tuesday, Aug. 29.
Dead last in three-point shooting in the tournament with only 12 to show in the first two games, the Azzurri found the perfect time to torch the net, drilling a total of 17 triples that proved to be too much of a punishment to bear for the hosts.
Simone Fontecchio led the shooting display with 18 points on three triples while Marco Spissu and Giampaolo Ricci had four treys each to finish with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Stefano Tonut, Alessandro Pajola and Nicol Melli chipped in 13, 11 and 10 as Italy caught the last bus to the Round of 16 after finishing second in Group A standings with a 2-1 record.
Gilas, though, just like in the first two losses, gave the fans something to cheer on as, after trailing by as many as 18 points early in the final frame, tried to mount another comeback by cutting the deficit down to just seven, 81-88, with 1:43 left in the contest.
The fightback, however, came a little too late once again, leaving the 11,821 fans in attendance broken-hearted at the final horn.
Jordan Clarkson paced the Filipinos with another all around effort of 23 points, seven rebounds and six assists while Dwight Ramos added 14 points.
RR Pogoy chipped in nine while Kiefer Ravena, AJ Edu and Rhenz Abando all had eight as the Filipinos bowed out of the first round, dropping all its three games in Group A.
Despite the loss, Gilas’ Olympic bid remains alive after Japan also failed to advance to the Top 16 after losing to Australia, 109-89, over at the Okinawa Arena for a 1-2 record in the group stage. Lebanon also ended the first round winless after absorbing an 85-79 loss against France.
Up next for Gilas is the classification stage where it will face the third placed team in Group B which could either be Asian rival China, South Sudan or Puerto Rico.
