GILAS PILIPINAS ENDS INCHEON JOURNEY ON WINNING NOTE
SEOUL, Korea – Gilas Pilipinas picked up its game in the second quarter and never let up in drubbing Mongolia, 84-68, to claim seventh place in the 17th Asian Games men’s basketball competition here Wednesday.
Ranidel de Ocampo put in a superb all-around effort coming off the bench, leading Gilas to a triumphant closing game that eased a little the pain of their losses to Iran, Qatar, Korea and China.
The win, however, didn’t save Team Phl from suffering its worst finish in the quadrennial games.
Gilas Pilipinas fared worse than the sixth-place windup of the Rajko Toroman-mentored quintet in Guangzhou in 2010.
De Ocampo poured in 25 points on 12-of-15 field shooting and also got 11 rebounds, seven assists and two steals while Junmar Fajardo had his own double-double performance with 12 boards and 11 markers as Gilas bucked Mongolia’s hot start, seizing the lead late in the second quarter.
Already in the driver’s seat at the turn, the Nationals pushed their bid in the final half and went on to win the game convincingly.
LA Tenorio and Gabe Norwood chipped in 11 points each while wingmen Jeff Chan and Gary David added eight apiece as the Filipinos whipped the Mongolians and wound up with a 3-4 win-loss record in the tourney.
Though out of the medal race, Filipino fans didn’t turn their backs on Gilas Pilipinas.
Among those in the gallery were PBA commissioner Chito Salud, members of the PBA board and the entire San Mig Coffee team.
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