ALLAN THE MAN

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.

The Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) has already sought the assistance of FIBA, the world's governing body in basketball, to help them clarify matters with the Olympic Committee of Asia (OCA) regarding Andray Blatche's eligibility for the upcoming Asian Games.

The OCA has reportedly questioned the Philippines' move to field the NBA player together with Gilas Pilipinas, citing their three-year residency rule on naturalized players.

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.