By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Gilas Pilipinas failed to earn an outright quarterfinals seat in the 19th Asian Games men’s basketball after an 87-62 beating by Jordan at the Zijingang Gymnasium in Hangzhou, China on Saturday night, September 30.
With the outcome, the Philippine men’s basketball team closed out their Group C assignment with a 2-1 win-loss slate and will face Qatar in a knockout game on Monday, October 2, to reach the quarterfinals.
Led by Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Jordan went on to have a dominant start as they took a 16-13 lead after the first 10 minutes before widening it to double-digits at 42-29 at the half.
Gilas Pilipinas responded with a strong third quarter as they tied the score at 48-all, but Jordan went on to establish a 59-52 lead, which later grew to as high as 25 points in the fourth quarter.
Hollis-Jefferson, who is playing as an import for TNT Tropang Giga in the PBA, finished with 24 points, six rebounds and nine assists, while Fadi Mustafa added 17 markers for Jordan.
Justin Brownlee finished with 24 points to show the way for the Tim Cone-mentored Gilas Pilipinas, while Earl Scottie Thompson contributed double-double 11 points and 11 rebounds in the loss.
Meanwhile, the Philippine women’s football team saw their campaign come to a devastating end as they suffered an 8-1 beating from Japan in the quarterfinals round in Wenzhou, China on Saturday night.
Filipinas suffered a huge blow in the first half as team captain Hali Long was slapped with a straight red card in the 27th minute, diminishing the Mark Toscano-mentored crew to 10 players.
Japan took advantage of the situation as they knocked in a penalty in the 39th minute courtesy of Momoko Tanikawa before it went up to 3-0 in the second half courtesy of Haruka Osawa (59th) and Remina Chiba (65th).
Sarina Bolden managed to pull one back in the 67th minute as she drained a header from a corner by Sara Eggesvik, but Japan captain Mami Ueno unloaded three consecutive goals to make it a 6-1 count.
Ueno later converted her fourth goal of the contest in the 90+1 minute before Osawa netted her second connection of the match three minutes later as they moved on to the semifinals.
JORDAN 87 — Hollis-Jefferson 24, Mustafa 17, Bzai 12, Bohannon 10, Al Dwairi 10, Hussein 7, Alhamarshen 5, Alhendi 2.
PHILIPPINES 62 — Brownlee 24, Thompson 11, Aguilar 8, Fajardo 8, Perez 5, Kouame 4, Lassiter 2, Newsome 0, Tolentino 0, Ross 0, Oftana 0.
Quarterscores: 16-13, 42-29, 59-52, 87-62./ASC, WDJ