The Gilas Pilipinas, Philippine national men’s basketball team put up a gallant fight but China was just too much overcome as the hosts pulled out a 78-67 victory to capture the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship gold medal Saturday at College of Social Work Dayun in Changsha, China.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche top-scored for Gilas Pilipinas with 17 points and five boards, but he never found his groove against the Chinese defense.
Jayson Castro, brilliant all tournament long, also had a hard time on the offensive end, finishing with eight points while only shooting three out of 14 baskets from the field.
With the loss, the Filipinos missed out on their chance to book an automatic berth in the 2016 Rio Olympics as China claimed the right to be Asia’s representative in the prestigious stage.
The Filipinos got off to a 5-0 start as they were able to keep a five-point lead until China, sparked by its rowdy hometown crowd, came alive.
The Chinese launched a 12-0 bomb to take a 22-15 lead. Gilas Pilipinas was able to trim it to just four, 23-19 after the opening quarter.
But the Filipinos struggled to get their game going against the much taller Chinese, with Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche being defended well.
China went on to grab a 13-point lead, 46-33, its biggest lead in the first half, as the Filipinos, despite standing their ground on defense, kept on giving up fouls.
As the Filipinos continued their shooting woes, China expanded its lead to as big as 16, 60-44, after a Li Gen triple.
But Gilas Pilipinas became aggressive in the dying seconds of the third frame, with Calvin Abueva, despite missing free throws, providing the energy for the squad. The Filipinos were somehow just down by 10, 60-50, entering the final frame.
However, China started the fourth period with five straight points to build a commanding 65-50 lead that kept the Filipinos at bay.
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2015 FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM RANKINGS
2015 FIBA ASIA CHAMPIONSHIP TEAM RANKINGS
1st GOLD - China (9 wins - 0 loss )
2nd SILVER - Philippines (7 wins - 2 losses)
3rd BRONZE - Iran (7 wins - 2 losses)
4th - Japan
5th - Lebanon
6th - South Korea
7th - Qatar (4 wins - 5 losses)
8th - India (3 wins - 6 losses)
9th - Jordan (5 wins - 3 losses)
10th - Palestine (4 wins - 4 losses)
11th - Kazakhstan (2 wins - 6 losses)
12th - Hong Kong (1 wins - 7 losses)
13th - Chinese Taipei (3 wins - 2 losses)
14th - Kuwait (1 win - 4 losses)
15th - Singapore (1 win - 4 losses)
16th - Malaysia (0 win - 5 losses)
source: interaksyon.com
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