Gilas Pilipinas suffered another scoring struggle as it fell to mighty Egypt with a blowout 86-55 loss to close out its run in the 2nd Doha International Cup early morning yesterday at the Qatar University Sports Complex.
The World’s No. 34 Filipinos had another second half meltdown as they will go home with one win and two losses, while No. 38 Egypt will end the Doha friendlies undefeated in three games.
Gilas had a good start with Dwight Ramos powering an 8-2 opening, but Egypt caught up quickly and ended the first half enjoying a 39-28 lead, thanks to a 21-point outburst in the second period against the nine points of the Philippine side.
The Barangay Ginebra San Miguel Kings connection of Justin Brownlee and Scottie Thompson worked wonders early in the third period with the do-it-all guard bringing them within single digit at 40-49.
Egypt, though, refused to give any measure of momentum to the Filipinos and headed to the final frame carrying a 57-45 cushion.
That signaled Egypt’s breakaway for good even if Gilas’ young guns Carl Tamayo and Kevin Quiambao buried three-pointers each as the 6-foot-1 Ehab Amin Saleh torched the Filipinos with back-to-back triples of his own for a 69-50 spread.
Amin Saleh would knock down another long bomb, bringing the mighty Egypt to a 76-52 advantage before Khaled Abdelnasser Abdelgawad converted two baskets in a row to put the final nail in the coffin.
Amin Saleh led the way for Egypt with 20 points together with eight assists, six rebounds and two steals off the bench, while Amr Zahran chipped in 12 markers.
Before this match, Egypt took two convincing victories over host Qatar, 83-54, and powerhouse Lebanon, 82-70.
Gilas, meanwhile, banked on Justine Brownlee, who had 18 points, five rebounds and one assist despite making an early exit early in the fourth quarter.
Starters Scottie Thompson, Dwight Ramos and AJ Edu were all limited to just six markers, while June Mar Fajardo was held to just five in the game that saw Gilas shoot 37 percent from the field.
Gilas will now head back home before flying to Taiwan to face Chinese Taipei in the third and final window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers. (GMA Integrated News)