By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Gilas Pilipinas capped off their 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup campaign with a 96-75 domination of Asian rival China in the classification round at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Saturday night, September 2.
Jordan Clarkson erupted for 34 points, with 24 coming in the third quarter, to go with three assists, two rebounds and a steal as the Philippine men’s basketball team secured its first win in five matches for 24th place overall.
Rhenz Abando also delivered for the national team with 14 points, along with five rebounds. Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos tallied 12 and 11 points, respectively, while AJ Edu hauled in 10 rebounds to go with five points.
Team Philippines opened the match with a 10-2 score behind early hits from Roger Pogoy and June Mar Fajardo, but China quickly made a run to take a 16-12 lead before Clarkson drilled four straight points to tie the score at 16-all.
In the second quarter, the Philippine team was able to take a five-point lead but China, behind naturalized player Li Kai Er, mounted a huge run to take a slim 40-39 lead at the half.
China continued its run to start the third frame as they established a 44-39 lead, but Gilas turned things around behind Abando, Clarkson and Fajardo as they knotted the score at 46-all.
A three-pointer by Abando gave Gilas a 51-48 advantage midway in the third frame before Clarkson took over with consecutive three-point connections as they built a 73-51 lead.
China attempted to make a run to start the fourth quarter with their tightened defense on Clarkson, but big men Sotto and Edu managed to convert from inside as they padded the lead to its biggest at 25 points.
“We did not want our hosting to end without giving the Filipino people a win,” Gilas Pilipinas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes said.
“The good games we played previously showed in this game,” he added.
Li, known in the NBA as Kyle Anderson, tallied 17 points, nine rebounds and five assists, Zhang Zhenlin added 13 markers, while Hu Mingxuan and Zhao Rui ended with 12 points each for China.
PHILIPPINES 96 — Clarkson 34, Abando 14, Sotto 12, Ramos 11, Fajardo 9, Pogoy 7, Edu 5, Thompson 4, Ravena 0, Aguilar 0.
CHINA 75 — Li 17, Zhang 13, M. Hu 12, R. Zhao 12, J. Hu 10, Zhu 5, Qi 2, Cui 2, Fu 2, J. Zhao 0.
Quarterscores: 16-16, 39-40, 73-51, 96-75./ASC, WDJ