Gilas Pilipinas Falls Short of Pulling Off Upset, Loses to Serbia 83 – 76

Gilas Pilipinas fell short of pulling off a massive upset vs world No. 5 Serbia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament as the Philippine national team loses only by seven points to Serbia, 83-76 in Belgrade on Wednesday, June 30 (Thursday, July 1, Manila time).

The Philippine team, after being down by as large as 16 points regained the lead in the fourth quarter for a moment with a 74-73 lead with 3:50 minutes left but lost the lead as Serbia started to rely on 7-foot-3 Dallas Mavericks big man Boban Marjanovic to bag the win for the European team.

Marjanovic scored a total of 25 point, with 8 of his 25 scored in the final four minutes as Serbia continuously fed the big man the ball as the game winded down.

However, Serbia quickly regained the upper hand off back-to-back buckets from the 7-foot-3 Marjanovic, who also finished with 10 rebounds.

The experience of the Serbian team, who have an average age of 29, with six players who are at least 30, proved too much for the all-cadet, young Philippine team who averages at only 22 years of age.

Kouame led the Gilas Pilipinas with 17 points, 7 rebounds, and 3 blocks. Jordan Heading finished with 13 points on 4-of-5 shooting from three-point range, and 3 assists, while Kai Sotto scored 10 points, 5 rebounds, and 2 blocks.

For the Serbian team, Boban Marjanovic led the way with 25 points and 11 rebounds. Ognjen Dobric chimed in with 16 points on a 4 of 7 shooting from three, with 2 rebounds and 2 assists. Former NBA player Milos Teodosic finished with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 6 assists.

Serbia, having beaten the Dominican Republic the day before matching up with the Philippines, improved to 2-0 for the top seed in Group A.

The Philippines now stands at 0-1 in the Group A of the Olympic qualifying tournament.

Gilas Pilipinas will match up with the Dominican Republic. who also stands at 0-1, tomorrow at 2:30 AM Philippine Time. (GFB)