HOURS after its official 12-man roster was finally known, Gilas Pilipinas went to business right away.
Terrence Romeo exploded in the fourth quarter before Gilas hang tough in the stretch of a tense 72-69 win over China and salvaged third place in the Imperial City Tournament in Bologna, Italy.
The Globalport wingman fired 13 of his team-high 18 points in the final period, helping the national team held off a Chinese side that played without top guns Yi Jianlian and Zhou Qi, the promising 20-year-old center drafted in the second round by the Houston Rockets in last week;s NBA draft.
Still, there was no denying the Filipinos of the win that came in the heels of back-to-back blowout losses against Turkey and Italy behind a losing margin of 35.5 points.
The national team dropped its first assignment against Italy on opening day of the short pocket tournament, 106-70, while its loss against Turkey came in a tune-up at Istanbul last week, 103-68.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche finished with 14 while Jeff Chan had 10 for Gilas, which formally announced its final 12-man lineup for the coming Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Manila just hours after the match versus China.
The match against the Chinese, led by the 18 points of Peng Zhou, was the first between the two regional rivals since last year’s title match for the FIBA Asia Men’s Championship won by China.
LA Tenorio and Calvin Abueva, the last two men out of the Gilas final 12, no longer suited up for the team, but watched the action from behind the bench.
The scores
Philippines (72) – Romeo 18, Blatche 14, Chan 10, Castro 9, Reyes 5, Fajardo 5, Pingris 3, Rosario 3, Norwood 2, Aguilar 2, Parks 1, De Ocampo 0.
China (69) – Zhou 18, Zhai 15, Ding 11, Wang 9, Zhao 5, G. Li 4, Zou 4, Sui 2, Jia 1, Q. Zhou 0, M. Li 0, Guo 0, Kelambaike 0, Y Zhao 0.
Quarterscores: 22-23, 34-34; 54-51, 72-69;
Source: [Spin]
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