Gilas Pilipinas suffered another defeat in the hands of Argentina, 85-81, after leading the first quarter of the game in the FIBA World cup Group B.
Gilas Pilipinas had a chance to tie or win the game with around 15 second left when Jayson Castro called for traveling after jumping for a potential three-pointer, when he saw that his shot was about to be blocked, the score was 83-81.
Andres Nocioni was fouled for with six seconds left and he connected his free throws to make the score 85-81.
The Filipinos had been leading the entire first half and they even had a 36-28 lead before the rampaging comeback of the Argentians caught Gilas Pilipinas by surprise.
Ranidel De Ocampo of Gilas Pilipins exploded with 18 points, while Andray Blatche added 14 points and 16 rebounds.
In the fourth quarter, when Argentina pulled the game away, Gilas Pilipinas tried to get back into the game through Jim Alapag’s three-pointers. Alapag was 5-for7 from the outside the arc.
NBA player Luis Scola lead his team in scoring with 19 points. Meanwhile M Mata had 17 points in 5-of-7 shooting beyond the three-point line.
Gilas Pilipinas fell into 0-3, coach Chot Reyes hopes the Gilas would beat Senegal and Puerto Rico so that they would be in the next round.