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After a convincing victory last week, Gilas Pilipinas hopes to complete a sweep against Thailand when the two teams meet again on the final day of Window 2 of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers on Monday in a bubble in Manama. Bahrain.
The national team scored a dominant 93-61 victory over Thailand during their first game last Friday.
Gilas used a great second quarter, where he unleashed a 22-8 run that converted a 21-19 lead after a quarter to 53-27 on a three-point play by rookie forward Dwight Ramos.
Ramos, 6’4 feet, led the national team with 20 points and added seven rebounds, three assists and the same number of steals, while Juan Gomes de Liano and Justin Baltazar contributed 12 points each.
The victory improved the national team’s record to 2-0 in Group A to tie South Korea, which chose to skip the event due to COVID-19. Indonesia is sporting a 1-2 card after a 90-76 win against Thailand, which fell to 0-3.
Gilas head coach Jong Uichico has decided to insert NCAA MVP Calvin Oftana of San Beda and Jaydee Tungcab of the University of the Philippines in the second game against the Thais. FIBA allows a lineup adjustment for this particular qualifying tournament.
The national team brought 15 players to Bahrain, including 14 healthy members as Allyn Bulanadi has already been ruled out with a knee injury. Oftana and Tungcab will replace Will Navarro and Mike Nieto.
Uichico said the other day that he hopes the amateur team will play well.
“Me and Coach Tab (Baldwin) … were amazed at the way we played,” Uichico said. “The score was not our main concern, but rather about how we should play.”
In the first game against Thailand, the national team made 35 of 73 (47.95%) shots from the field, including 10 of 31 from three-point territory, while their defense held Thailand to just 19 of 64 (29.69%) shots.
Gilas also forced Thailand to 22 turnovers, which the Nationals translated into 28 loss points, and while the two teams had the same 43 rebound total, Gilas scored 42 points in the paint.
The event serves as a qualifying tournament for next year’s FIBA Asia Cup, a tournament formerly known as the FIBA Asia Championship, which the Nationals won in 1985 and was runner-up in 2013 and 2015.
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