By REYNALD MAGALLON
Judging by the scenes after the final buzzer, it felt like it was Gilas Pilipinas which came out with the win. The players and fans in attendance were flashing wide smiles, while the Georgians were caught in a picture of disappointment.
Except that, it was actually the other way around.
Gilas lost to Georgia, 96-94, but it was more than enough for the Filipinos to book their ticket to the FIBA Olympic Qualifying tournament semifinals for the first time in history at the Riga Arena on Thursday, July 4.
It was just one of the rare moments when losing actually felt like winning as Gilas battled back from a 20-point deficit and did just enough to keep the second spot of the Group A standings despite falling to the hands of the Crusaders.
Gilas, Georgia along with Latvia all finished with identical 1-1 records in the standings although it was the hosts and the Filipinos that advanced to the next round by virtue of their superior quotients.
Before the game, the Crusaders not only needed to beat Gilas but they also had to do it with 19 points or more winning margin to take the second spot from the Filipinos.
They actually looked to be on their way there after a blistering first half where they scored the first 16 points of the game and even took a commanding 40-20 lead.
Justin Brownlee, however, carried Gilas on his back anew with another stellar showing of 20 points, eight rebounds and eight assists and kept the Filipinos within striking distance.
The rest of the squad, however, came alive in the third frame as Chris Newsome, Dwight Ramos and CJ Perez picked up the slack after Kai Sotto never returned after a bad fall and rallied the Filipinos to a 31-point explosion to suddenly tie the game at 74-all heading into the fourth.
Ramos had 16 points while Newsome and Perez added 14 and 13, respectively, as Gilas more than willingly engaged Georgia to a see-saw affair in the final period to preserve its spot in the Top 2.
Georgia’s NBA twin towers Alexander Mamukelashvili and Goga Bitadze showed the way with 26 and 21 points, respectively, but were not enough to power the Crusaders to the next round.
Gilas, after advancing to the semis for the first time since participating in two OQTs in 2016 and 2021, is now two wins away from formally making it to the Paris Olympics and ending the country’s 52-year absence.
Standing on its way, however, is its semis opponent which could either be world No. 12 Brazil or No. 17 Montenegro.
