ALLAN THE MAN

Gilas Pilipinas fought for dear life but Puerto Rico put an end to it.The Puerto Ricans registered their first victory in the 2014 FIBA World Cup with a 77-73 win over the Philippines behind the amazing play of point guard JJ Barea.

Watch the highlights of the Group C encounter between USA and New Zealand.

The Philippine national men’s basketball team showed its big fighting heart again but couldn’t finish with the victory at the end as JJ Barea lifted Puerto Rico to a 77-73 victory in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Wednesday in Seville, Spain.

Barea scored a layup with 51.8 seconds left to give Puerto Rico a 72-70 lead, then hit free throws in the endgame to seal the win and come back form a 14-point deficit early in the game.

Watch Andray Blatche two-handed slam vs Puerto Rico - 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

It's a fight for survival as the Philippines goes up against Puerto Rico tonight at 7:30 PM. The Puerto Ricans carry a similar 0-3 record like that of Gilas.

The 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup is the 17th edition of the FIBA Basketball World Cup, the tournament previously known as the FIBA World Championship. Hosted by Spain, it is the last time the tournament is held on the current four-year cycle.

SEPTEMBER 4, 2014 Thursday, MANILA TIME:

7:30 pm - Angola vs Australia

8:00 pm - Gilas Pilipinas (Philippines) vs Senegal

9:00 pm - New Zealnd vs Finland

9:30 pm - Egypt vs Brazil

11:30 pm - South Korea vs Mexico ; USA vs Ukraine

12:00 mn - Iran vs France ; Croatia vs Puerto Rico

3:30 am - Lithuania vs Slovenia ; Turkey vs Dominican republic

4:00 am - Spain vs Serbia ; Argentina vs Greece

Gilas Pilipinas, Philippine national men’s basketball team center June Mar Fajardo is the second most efficient player in the FIBA Basketball World Cup, according to RealGM.com, a website which provides advanced statistics to NBA teams.

Fajardo got a total of 44.92 Player Efficiency Rating (PER), just behind Spain’s Pau Gasol who had 48.66. The reigning PBA Most Valuable Player also ranked ahead of Slovenia’s Zoran Dragic (44.82), Team USA’s Anthony Davis (41.46) and Spain’s Serge Ibaka (41.41).

Even with its current winless record, Gilas Pilipinas can still make it into the 2014 FIBA World Cup Round of 16.

[ WATCH GILAS PILIPINAS v PUERTO RICO FREE LIVE STREAMING HERE ]

The narrow road compressed further when the team lost a close game against Argentina the other day. However, Gilas is not totally out of the woods yet.

Watch the Top 5 Plays from game day 3 including the poster dunk of Gabe Norwood vs NBA veteran Luis Scola.

Brazil's problems in defending the perimeter and stopping Pau Gasol in the paint area proved costly for the South Americans who conceded their first defeat of the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Gasol was simply unstoppable as the host nation stretched their winning streak to three victories, with a comfortable 82-63 victory.

Gilas Pilipinas may have lost its third straight assignment in the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup, but the national team is continuing to win hearts of everyone who watches the games.

Add ESPN anchor and NBA play-by-play man Mark Jones to the list of people who have become smitten with the Philippines' brand of "puso"-inspired basketball.

Gilas Pilipinas fought gallantly behind the mighty fighting heart of team captain Jimmy Alapag, but couldn't get over the hump down the stretch against a veteran Argentina side ranked third in the world. Gilas Pilipinas lost another heartbreaker in their FIBA World Cup campaign as they were beaten by Argentina, 85-81.

Gilas Pilipinas trailed Argentina, 38-43, at the end of the first half of a thrilling Fiba World Cup game highlighted by some highlight-reel moments for the Philippines on Monday night. 

The hot-starting Filipinos took an early 12-2 lead after back-to-back three-pointers by Jayson Castro then controlled most of the first half against an Argentina team ranked No. 3 in the world just behind Team USA and host Spain.

The mighty fighting heart of team captain Jimmy Alapag carried the Philippines in the fourth quarter, but the team could not quite get over the hump against traditional world power Argentina to drop an 85-81 heartbreaker early Tuesday morning in Seville, Spain.

Gilas Pilipinas dropped its third straight loss in the 2014 FIBA World Cup, with this one perhaps the most painful.

The Gilas Pilipinas, Philippine national men’s basketball team, hung tough against a mighty Greece squad but just couldn’t pull out the stops to yield an 82-70 result in the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Sunday (Monday morning Philippine time) in Seville, Spain.

Less than 24 hours after losing to world number five Greece, the Philippine men's national basketball team will find itself back on the hardcourt. At 11:30 PM tonight, Gilas-Pilipinas will be facing Argentina hoping to pull a surprise against FIBA's third ranked team.

Philippines 70, Greece 82 (Group B)

Team Philippines suffered another loss after Greece ran away, 82-70, in their second matchup of Group B competition in the FIBA World Cup.

Georgis Printezis led the way for the Greeks with 25 points and Giannis Bourousis tallied a double-double of 12 points and 10 boards.

Gilas Pilipinas' LA Tenorio's Cheap Shot On Greece's Kostas Papanikolaou? (VIDEO)

The Philippine national men’s basketball team hung tough against a mighty Greece squad but just couldn’t pull out the stops to yield an 82-70 result in the FIBA Basketball World Cup on Sunday (Monday morning Philippine time) in Seville, Spain.

Andray Blatche scored 21 points and 14 rebounds to lead Gilas Pilipinas as they once again made an impressive showing against one of the world’s basketball powerhouses in Greece.