Serbia thumps PHL, 126-67

The Philippine men’s national basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas, was trounced last Monday in the ongoing 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, falling 126-67 to Serbia at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Center in China. The loss eliminated Gilas from the competition.
Despite surrendering five early points, Gilas went on to take a narrow 9-7 lead on a jumper by Paul Lee; however, the Serbian side leaned on Nikola Jokić to widen their lead to 15 points. Gilas then tried to keep pace with the Serbians in the second period behind Jaymar Perez and Robert Bolick but their opponents went on to take a 20-point lead at halftime.
The Serbian team pounded the Philippines in the second half and led by as much as 59 points in the final period.
Nemanja Bjelica top-scored for Serbia after shooting 7-of-7 and finishing with 20 points, while Bogdan Bogdanović converted four three-point baskets and scored a total 17 markers.
For Gilas, Perez tallied 17 points and Lee added 15 markers./ASC, WDJ