Lithuanian hail of treys flattens Gilas
TAIPEI – Gilas Pilipinas, deep in buildup for the SEA Games, took an elite form of tutelage from Lithuania – the traditional European powerhouse – absorbing an 80-91 defeat that dropped 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 Nationals, who had barely recovered from their woeful shooting slump against South Korea, actually kept the initiative early in the game but sagged and collapsed in the face of the Lithuanians’ crisp and deadly outside shooting as they succumbed to their third loss against four victories.
They dropped to fourth place behind Canada, Lithuania and South Korea (5-2).
Despite the setback, Gilas coach Chot Reyes praised his wards, 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 Filipinos 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 will win the championship by virtue of the “winner-over-the-other rule.” Canada outlasted Lithuania, 10299, in the second day of the tourney.
The Lithuanians opened the second period with a threepointer and added six more in the quarter as they stopped the Filipinos in 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 stuff 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 three-point shots (39) than two-point attempts (26). And all of them are making three-point shots,” noted Gilas team manager Butch 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, posting an eight-point lead at 18-10.
“We had a good start. We hit them in the nose. We hit them first, then we started committing lapses,” rued Christian Standhardinger.
Agile six-foot-10 center Eirgirdas Zukauskas hit from afar and on strong attacks to the basket as he led the Lithuanians with 22 points.
No less than six Lithuanian players connected from long range, with Sarunas Vingelis, Edvinas Seskus and Martynas Linkevicius hitting three apiece.