Towering Gilas center Andray Blatche looks to pass the ball as a Palestinian defender sticks to him in Wednesday's opening game between the Philippines and Palestine in the 2015 FIBA Asia championship at the Changsha Social Work College's Gymnasium in Changsa, China. Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette
Third-ranked Gilas Pilipinas suffered an ego-deflating defeat at the hands of 12th-ranked Palestine, 73-75, Wednesday on the opening day of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship at the Changsha Social Work College's Gymnasium in Changsa, China. The Filipinos led by as much as 15 points, 29-14, early in the game but lost their way in the second half as the Palestinians, playing their first ever game in a FIBA championship, found ways to penetrate the Filipinos' defenses while bottling up their opponents at the other end of the court. Gilas lost despite naturalized player Andray Blatche showing much improved form, dominating the paint, slashing through the lane and nailing three-pointers. The former NBA star finished with a team-high 21 points and 12 rebounds. But except for Terrence Romeo and Jayson Castro, who scored 11 and 10 points, respectively, the other Gilas guys failed to impress. After JC Intal buried a three-pointer that gave Gilas a 45-33 lead, Palestine went on a 7-0 blast led by their star player Sani Sakakini, as the Palestinians cut the Filipinos' lead to just five, 45-40, at halftime. The Palestinians continued pressing, cutting the Filipinos to just a basket, 59-57, at the start of the fourth quarter. Triples by Romeo and Intal and a three-point play by Blatche gave Gilas back a nine-point lead, 71-69, with less than four minutes left. But just as the Filipinos thought they had the game under control, the Palestinians unleashed a huge 10-0 blast, including back-to-back triples by Abu Shamala, to give Palestine the lead, 72-71, with 1:34 remaining. Blatche scored on a putback to give Gilas back the advantage. But Sakakini completed a three-point play to put Palestine ahead again, 75-73, with 15 seconds left. The Palestinians then completed the historic upset with a stifling defense on all five Gilas players. With time expiring, Blatche launched a tightly contested shot at the left corner that was blocked. The Filipinos still had possession with a second left, but a Palestinian defender likewise blocked the throw-in as the final buzzer sounded and the Palestinians erupted with great jubilation. Shamala led all scorers with 26 points and 15 boards, while Sakakini added 22 points and 14 boards. Gilas goes up against Hong Kong Thursday in what could be another perilous assignment for the Filipinos. In the opening game of the Asian qualifier for 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, Hong Kong demolished Kuwait, 87-50. Ki Lee scored 15 points while Duncan Reid added 13 points and 13 boards to lead Hong Kong. Mashari Abu Dom led Kuwait with 15 points. In other matches Iran thrashed Japan 86-48; South Korea beat Jordan 87-60; India beat Malaysia 102-73; and China thrashed Sinre 91-42.
