GILAS PILIPINAS SUFFERS 1ST LOSS IN LITHUANIA
After two close wins, Gilas Pilipinas suffered a first loss in its Lithuanian tune-up series, beaten by a Lithuanian squad providing a glimpse of the traditional Asian teams.
LSU-Baltai punished Gilas Pilipinas with a torrid outside shooting and pulled off an 89-86 win in their match Sunday night at the Svyturio Arena in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
“Talo, 89-86. Just like that week 1 is done. 9 practices, 3 games. Now d tediousness, homesickness & fatigue are kicking in. How do we react?,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes on his Twitter page.
“Got our first loss to this great shooting team. We will face similar teams in FIBA-Asia. Got to take the lessons to heart,” said Gilas assistant coach Josh Reyes.
Vidmantas Sragauskis, Arunas Sakalauskas, Sarunas Vingelis, Arunas Vasiliauskas, Zygimantas Skucas and Laimonas Miksys combined for 15-of-41 triples for the Lithuanian squad that used to feature former NBA star Zydrunas Ilgauskas.
Still, Gilas kept the game close, even taking the half at 49-41.
The Lithuanians outscored the Filipinos, 48-37, in the second half, thus, ending Gilas’ perfect streak in its Lithuanian buildup, two months before the FIBA Asia Championship slated in Manila.
Six-foot-7 forward Sragauskis rifled in five triples and topscored with 23 points on top of five rebounds.
The Nationals play three more games before leaving their Lithuanian camp and swinging by Tokyo for a series against the Japanese national team.
Up next for Gilas is Lithuania’s Under-20 national team, the defending FIBA Euro U-20 champions. The Nationals slug it out with the Lithuanian junior team for two straight games before getting another crack at LSU-Baltai.
Earlier, Gilas Pilipinas whipped Klaipedos-Neptunas, 81-76, then drubbed Birstono Jazz Direnta, 74-63.
The Nationals didn’t do badly against the LSU-Baltai team but they were not just able to keep up with Lithuanians’ torrid shooting. (SB)
Subscribe to INQUIRER PLUS to get access to The Philippine Daily Inquirer & other 70+ titles, share up to 5 gadgets, listen to the news, download as early as 4am & share articles on social media. Call 896 6000.
