MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas clawed back from 20 points down before settling for a 96-94 defeat to Georgia in the 2024 Paris Summer Games Olympic Qualifying Tournament last night at Arena Riga in Riga, Latvia.
Despite the defeat, the Tim Cone-mentored national men’s basketball team still moved on to the semifinals round of the qualifiers along with Latvia with an identical 1-1 win-loss slate.
Gilas Pilipinas had a flat start and were down 40-20 early in the second quarter before they went on a run behind Justin Brownlee and Chris Newsome to cut the deficit to 43-55 at the half.
The Philippine squad continued their run in the third period behind outside conversions from Dwight Ramos and Carl Tamayo to tie the score at 67-all and later taking their first taste of the lead at 71-70 on free throws by Ramos.
The game was tight for both squads early in the fourth quarter until Georgia converted consecutive three-pointers to give them an 88-81 advantage but Gilas’ Jaymar Perez answered with eight straight points to cut the deficit to 89-90.
Baskets from Perez and Brownlee pulled the Gilas Pilipinas to within 93-94 with 16 seconds left in the game, but Georgia’s Goga Bitadze knocked down two free throws to extend the lead to 96-93 with 14 seconds left.
In the next possession, Gilas Pilipinas opted to hold the ball before Georgia fouled Newsome, who split his free throws to cut the deficit to 94-96 with two seconds remaining.
Georgia, which needed to win by as much as 19 points to secure a semis seat, still tried to force an overtime with Bitadze attempting to score on Gilas Pilipinas’ basket but he fumbled at the final buzzer.
Alexander Mamukelashvili top-scored for Georgia with 26 points, Bitadze added a double-double of 21 points and 10 rebounds, while Tornike Shengaila, Joe Thomasson, and Duda Sanadze ended with 17, 14, and 13 points, respectively.
Brownlee led the way for Gilas Pilipinas with 28 points, eight rebounds, and eight assists, Ramos added 16 markers, while Perez and Newsome had 14 and 13, respectively./PN
BOX SCORE:
GEORGIA 96 – Mamukelashvili 26, Bitadze 21, Shengaila 17, Thomasson 14, Sanadze 13, Andronikashvili 5, Jintcharadze 0, Korsantia 0, Ochkhikidze 0, Londaridze 0.
PHILIPPINES 94 – Brownlee 28, Ramos 16, Perez 14, Newsome 13, Tamayo 7, Fajardo 6, Sotto 4, Oftana 4, Aguilar 2, Quiambao 0.
Quarterscores: 28-17, 55-43, 74-74, 96-94.
