Photo credit: FIBA Asia
Gilas Pilipinas suffered another loss to an 8-man selection team from Lithuania on Tuesday, July 4, in a tune-up game at the Zalgiris Arena in Kaunas, Lithuania.
Gilas got off to a slow start and gave up 36 points in the first quarter but managed to cut the deficit by 11 in the first half, 45-56. Lithuania controlled the game and extended their lead to 17 points at the end of the third quarter, 78-59. Gilas outscored the Lithuanians, 21-12, in the final quarter but fell short of mounting a huge comeback.
"Obviously, we’re not happy with the result but I’m very satisfied with the learning, the lessons that we continue to pick up. I think at the start we had some good looks that were not falling that’s why they were able to get to that early run," coach Chot Reyes told One Sports' Carlo Pamintuan.
"But also this team, unlike the previous team we played didn’t really pressure really hard on passing lanes. They defended a different way, which is also one of the things we need to learn, how to attack teams that defend this way, and I thought we were able to… offense wasn’t our problem in this ballgame." added Reyes.
"We’re going to have games like this where we’re scoring really well but we cannot stop the other team, we have to have that balance. We have to find the balance where we’re scoring well and really defending well." he said.
Tomas Zdanavicius, who played for BK Inter Bratislava in the Slovak League, led the selection team with game-high 25 points (6/7 3pts), to go with 7 rebounds, 4 assists and a steal in 23 minutes of play. Former Lithuanian Basketball League MVP Vytautas Šulskis had a solid performance of 19 points (5/9fg, 2/4 3pts, 7/7ft), along with 9 rebounds, 2 assists and a steal while Rokas Pocius added 10 points and 9 rebounds.
Justin Brownlee paced Gilas in the losing effort with 20 points (8/22fg, 4/10 3pts), 7 rebounds, 2 assists and 4 blocks, Jamie Malonzo finished with a near double-double, recording 14 points, 9 rebounds, 2 assists and 6 steals, while June Mar Fajardo added 13 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist and a steal.
Gilas shot 29-of-73 from the field, including 7-of-23 shooting from beyond the arc. Meanwhile, Lithuania had 26 out of 61 field goals and made 12 out of 34 attempts from three-point range. Gilas went 15 out of 20 from the free-throw line, while Lithuania made 26 out of 32 free throws. Lithuania committed 15 turnovers, while Gilas had only 9 turnovers. Lithuania outrebounded PHL, 46-39 and also had more assists with 26 compared to Gilas' 21.
The Scores:
LITHUANIA 90 - Zdanavicius 25, Sulskis 19, Ramanauskas 12, Pocius 10, Urkis 8, Zakas 6, Kneizys 5, Sederevicius 5.
PHILIPPINES 80 - Brownlee 20, Malonzo 14, Fajardo 13, K Ravena 10, Perez 6, Erram 5, Aguilar 4, T Ravena 4, Kouame 4, Abando 0, Newsome 0, Ramos 0, Edu (DNP-ankle), Thompson (DNP-back).
Quarters: 36-19, 56-45, 78-59, 90-80. [VIDEO] | [STATS]
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