MANILA – The Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball team sustained a blowout 86-55 defeat to Egypt in the 2nd Doha International Cup on Sunday night (Monday in the Philippines) at the Qatar University Sports Complex in Doha, Qatar.
Gilas, the world No. 34-ranked squad, had another second half meltdown against the No. 38 ranked Egypt as they concluded the three-day pocket tournament at third place with a 1-2 card.
Dwight Ramos caught fire early as he led Gilas Pilipinas to an 8-2 start but Egypt unloaded 21 points in the second period to end the first half with a 39-28 advantage.
Justin Brownlee and Earl Scottie Thompson tried to carry Gilas Pilipinas back in the contest early in the third quarter as they cut the deficit to within single digit at 40-49.
But Egypt responded with their long-range conversions from Ehab Amin Saleh, negating the three-point hits of Gilas’ Kevin Quiambao and Carl Tamayo, to stretch the lead to 69-50.
Amin Saleh would knock down another long bomb, extending Egypt’s lead to 76-52, before Khaled Abdelnasser Abdelgawad converted two baskets in a row to seal their victory.
Amin Saleh led the way for Egypt with 20 points to go with eight assists, six rebounds, and two steals off the bench, while Amr Zahran chipped in 12 markers in the massive win.
Egypt was later declared as the pocket tournament’s champion after sweeping their three games, including convincing victories over host Qatar, 83-54, and powerhouse Lebanon, 82-70.
Justin Brownlee finished with 18 points, five rebounds, and one assist to lead Gilas, Thompson, Ramos, and AJ Edu ended with six points each, while June Mar Fajardo contributed five markers.
Gilas Pilipinas will now head back the country before flying to Taiwan to face Chinese Taipei in the third and final window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers on Thursday./PN
