By ADRIAN STEWART CO

Gilas Pilipinas failed to capitalize on their dream start as they suffered an 80-70 defeat to Angola in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night, August 27.

The Philippine men’s basketball team started strong against Angola as they led 19-12 behind early hits by Roger Pogoy and Jaymar Perez until it reached its biggest at 28-17 on a dunk by AJ Edu early in the second period.

But Gilas Pilipinas committed successive turnovers as they allowed Angola to tie the score at 28-all. Jordan Clarkson regained the lead for Gilas at 30-28, but a continued run by Angola allowed them to take a 36-33 halftime lead.

With the momentum and confidence on their side, Angola continued to hang on to the advantage in the third quarter at 56-52, which grew to as high as 73-57 on consecutive triples by Gerson Domingos.

However, Gilas made its last push on consecutive hits by Clarkson, Rhenz Abando and Edu, and two free throws by Kai Sotto to cut the deficit to 68-73, but a booming triple by Domingos with less than a minute left sealed the win for Angola.

Gerson Goncalves led the way for Angola (1-1) with 17 points, Domingos and Bruno Fernando added 15 and 14 markers, respectively, while Jilson Bango and Silvio de Souza ended with 10 points each.

Clarkson was the lone double-digit scorer for Gilas Pilipinas (0-2) with 21 points, Edu chipped in nine markers, while Sotto, Roger Pogoy and Dwight Ramos ended with eight each.

Despite the loss, Gilas Pilipinas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes said that there is still a glimmer of hope for the national men’s basketball team to reach the 2024 Paris Olympics if they beat Italy on Tuesday night, August 29.

“No matter how flickering that hope is, that hope is still alive,” Reyes said during the postgame press conference.

“We need to keep our heads up and find a way to play our best in the next game,” he said.

“The first thing for us is to make sure that we come out and prepare and find a way to win that game. The quotient will take care of itself, so we need to focus on what we need to do to be able to compete against a Top 10 team in the world,” he added.

ANGOLA 80 — Goncalves 17, Domingos 15, Fernando 14, De Souza 10, Bango 10, Dundao 4, Kakila 4, Francisco 3, Paulo 2, Monteiro 1, Fernandes 0, Maconda 0.

PHILIPPINES 70 — Clarkson 21, Edu 9, Pogoy 8, Ramos 8, Sotto 8, Perez 7, Fajardo 4, Ravena 3, Abando 2, Thompson 0, Aguilar 0, Malonzo 0.

Quarterscores: 12-19, 36-33, 56-54, 80-70./ASC, WDJ