MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas was handed a humiliating 102-81 defeat by Japan in the knockout round of the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup on Tuesday night at the Istora Senayan in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The outcome was a slap on the faces of the Philippine men’s basketball team as this was Japan’s first victory against them since the 60-68 triumph in the Asian Games 12 years ago.
“The result is not what we wanted and we’re very sorry that we’ve disappointed a lot of our countrymen,” Gilas head coach Chot Reyes said. “But like I said, we brought a very young team here and the experience is just going to make them better.”
Yuta Watanabe made his presence felt early for the Japanese as he ignited a huge 23-10 scoring blast in the opening quarter en route to a 32-16 advantage after the opening quarter.
Gilas Pilipinas showed some life early in the second quarter as they trimmed the deficit to 25-32 after a conversion from John Paul Erram but three-point baskets by Japan allowed them to pull away at 50-34 at the half.
The Philippine team attempted to come close early in the third via triples by Bobby Ray Parks Jr. but the Japanese had a quick response as they widened the lead to 16 points.
The Japanese went for the kill in the fourth quarter as they connected three-pointer after three-pointer as the advantage grew to 99-71 before Gilas Pilipinas connected some late shots to cut the final margin.
Yuki Togashi tallied 18 points and six assists, while naturalized center Luke Evans contributed 17 points and seven boards for Japan, which will face Australia in the quarterfinals round.
Watanabe, who plays for Toronto Raptors in the NBA, chipped in 15 points, nine rebounds, and three assists before exiting in the third quarter with an injury, while Yudai Nishida and Yutaro Suda had 15 and 14, respectively, for Japan.
Parks ended up with 16 points and three assists, while Kiefer Ravena and Carl Tamayo added 15 and 10 markers, respectively, for Gilas, which had its worst finish in the competition since ending up at ninth place in 2007.
BOX SCORE:
JAPAN 102 – Togashi 18, Evans 17, Nishida 15, Watanabe 15, Suda 14, Harimoto 9, Yoshii 7, Sato 5, Inoue 2, Tominaga 0, Kawamura 0, Toews 0.
PHILIPPINES 81 – Parks 16, K. Ravena 15, Tamayo 10, Belangel 9, Erram 7, Quiambao 6, Abarrientos 5, Navarro 4, Lopez 3, T. Ravena 2, Chiu 2, Abando 2.
Quarterscores: 32-16, 50-34, 77-63, 102-81./PN
