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E-Gilas Pilipinas failed to retain their title after absorbing a sweep to Australia in the grand final of the FIBA Esports Open II Southeast Asia-Oceania merged conference on Sunday night.
NBA2K’s outstanding Filipinos were unable to maintain their strong performance in the group stage as they bowed to the champions of Oceania in two games in the best-of-three title match.
“It was a very disappointing loss because I felt like we could have done more,” said E-Gilas coach Nielie “Nite” Alparas. “We fought hard and stayed focused, but his momentum was unstoppable.”
“However, we are moving forward and we are seeing this setback as one of our stops to establish and establish our team as one of the best,” he added.
After finishing the eliminations on top with a 5-1 record, the Filipinos were unable to take advantage of being the hosts in Game 1, losing a 62-54 decision to the Australians.
Aljon “Shintarou” Cruzin led E-Gilas with 16 points, while Clark “Clark” Banzon scored seven of nine in the team’s latest 14-4 comeback streak.
Game 2 saw an almost similar story when the Philippines took a 69-54 beating against Australia.
The Australians took their biggest lead at 57-32 in the third quarter before thwarting another late recovery by the Filipinos.
Shintarou scored 13 points, while Clark and Rial “Rial” Polog Jr. contributed 12 and 11 markers, respectively, in the loss.
Australian Benjamin “Waurk” Clobas, who scored 18 points in the title game, was named MVP of the tournament.
E-Gilas ruled the inaugural edition of the FIBA Esports Open Southeast Asia division last June with a forceful five-game sweep over Indonesia.
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