MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball team sustained a lopsided 75-54 defeat to Lebanon in the 2nd Doha International Cup on Saturday night (Sunday in the Philippines) at the Qatar University Sports Complex in Doha, Qatar.
Unlike in their come-from-behind 74-71 win over host Qatar on Friday (Saturday in the Philippines), Gilas failed to have a comeback in the final quarter after being limited to six points by the Lebanon’s defense.
Gilas Pilipinas were holding to a 46-40 lead after a three-point play by Earl Scottie Thompson late in the third quarter, but Lebanon went on an 11-2 run behind Karim Zeinoun and Gerard Hadidian as they regained a 51-48 cushion.
The momentum continued for the Lebanese in the fourth quarter as the lead stretched to 65-50 following a a three-pointer from Jad Khalil to complete their massive 14-0 blast.
Lebanon also held off Gilas Pilipinas scoreless for more than five minutes in that period before Chris Newsome finally converted a free throw with 4:53 remaining in the game.
Calvin Oftana tried to resuscitate Gilas with a long bucket for a 65-53 deficit, but Lebanon took advantage of the penalty situation to widen the advantage anew late in the game.
Hadidian and Khalil spearheaded the offense for Lebanon with 18 points apiece while Zeinoun and big man Ater James Majok put together 13 and 12 markers each.
Justin Brownlee, who had 15 points at the halftime break, added just six points in the second half to finish with 21 points together with 11 rebounds and one assist while Oftana tallied 10 markers.
Dwight Ramos and June Mar Fajardo, who played key roles in their victory against Qatar, struggled with just five and two points, respectively, as they dropped to a 1-1 record.
Gilas Pilipinas will to close out its Doha run on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) against Egypt before they head to Taiwan for the third window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers against Chinese Taipei on February 20./PN
