Lithuanians whip Gilas

Gilas Pilipinas simply couldn’t keep up with

the tall, sweetshooting Lithuanian side, dropping an 8091 setback that

relegated the Filipinos out of the Top Three heading into the penultimate day of the 2017 Jones

Cup at the Taipei Peace Gymnasium

here yesterday.

The Filipinos actually showed the way through the first 14 minutes of the game before their defense fell apart on Lithuania’s efficient offense that kept finding the open men ready to unload outside bombs.

The Lithuanians sizzled with 14-of-36 three-pointers and played defense that rarely gave away an easy shot as they kept a share of the lead with Team Canada at 6-1.

But in case of a tie at the end of the one-round-robin competition, the Canadians win the championship by virtue of the “winner-overthe-other rule.” Canada outlasted Lithuania, 102-99, in the second day of the tourney.

Gilas went down to fourth place behind Canada, Lithuania and South Korea (5-2) with a third loss against four wins.

But coach Chot Reyes stuck with the positives, saying they lost to the best team in this Jones Cup. “They lost to Canada but they actually dominated that game early on,” said Reyes.

“I was incredibly proud of our guys. We played a high quality European team. Some of them play as import in different European teams. In my mind they’re the best team here, but we battled them on even terms except in a stretch in the second period. I’m proud of our effort,” Reyes added.

The Lithuanians opened the second period with a threepointer and added six more in the quarter as they stopped the Filipinos on their tracks and seized control at 50-41 at the half.

Featuring veteran players from the Lithuanian league and the Baltic Basketball League, the Lithuanians put on full display their stuffs in the second half, leading by as many as 20 before eventually claiming a fifth straight win after splitting their first two games in the tourney.

“They took more threepoint shots (39) than twopoint attempts (26). And all of them are making threepoint shots,” noted Gilas team manager Antonio.

Carl Bryan Cruz, RR Pogoy and Matthew Wright showed their own outside shooting prowess early on as the Nationals set the pace through the first 14 minutes, enjoying an eightpoint lead at 18-10. —

Butch

Gilas Pilipinas national team suffered their third loss in the 39th William Jones Cup as Lithuania proved too much for them during their game yesterday in Taiwan.