IT WAS the exact opposite of the fiery way Gilas Pilipinas finished its opening assignment against Qatar.
And no thanks to a fumbling fourth quarter, the Nationals sustained a lopsided 54-75 loss at the hands of Lebanon to slip to 1-1 in the Doha Invitational Cup in Qatar early on Sunday (Manila time).
Less than 12 hours after hammering out a come-from-behind 74-71 verdict against the host Qataris behind a blistering 23-11 salvo in the final 10 minutes of play, the Filipino dribblers fought the Lebanese toe-to-toe only to fade in the windup.
After scoring the first basket of the final period via Aj Edu’s putback, the troops of coach Tim Cone went cold and fired blanks as the Cedars unloaded a telling 14-0 blast to create a 15-point separation.
Aside from Mr. Edu, only Calvin Oftana managed to buy a bucket for the Philippines as Chris Newsome and CJ Perez each had a split the rest of the way amid Lebanon’s dizzying 24-6 closing barrage.
Justin Brownlee (JB) posted a 21-point, 11-rebound double-double outing but failed to trigger a late charge for Mr. Cone’s crew and the throng of Pinoy supporters cheering them on.
Support for JB came from Mr. Oftana (10 markers), Scottie Thompson (11 boards, seven rebounds and three assists) and Mr. Edu (6-6) but surely it wasn’t enough to get the Filipinos to back-to-back wins in the four-nation meet.
Jad Khalil fired 18 spiked by a three-of-seven shooting from deep while Gerard Hadidian also shot 18 and added eight rebounds to pace the Cedars, who bounced back from their 70-82 opening loss to Egypt at the expense of the Filipinos.
Mr. Brownlee and Co. get a shot at a quick pull around as they face the Egyptians on Monday at 1:30 a.m. (Manila time) at the conclusion of hostilities at the Qatar University Sports and Events Complex. The Egyptians are 2-0 after stamping their class on hosts Qatar as well, 83-54. — Olmin Leyba
The scores:
Lebanon 75 — Hadidian 18, Khalil 18, Zeinoun 13, Majok 12, Mezher 8, Rtail 4, Makhlouf 2, Khoueiry 0, Samaha 0, Moussa 0.
Philippines 54 — Brownlee 21, Oftana 10, Thompson 7, Edu 6, Ramos 5, Fajardo 2, Newsome 1, Quiambao 1, Perez 1, Tamayo 0, Amos 0, Malonzo 0.
Quarterscores: 13-12, 26-28, 51-48, 75-54.
