Gilas Pilipinas displayed its well-oiled offensive machine fueled by an adoring crowd to pull off a 76-63 win over Saudi Arabia in the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah Sunday night (Monday in Manila).
Dwight Ramos, Roger Pogoy, Kai Sotto and CJ Perez bannered the scoring parade, but it was a total team effort for Gilas, who played as if they were in Manila due to the amount of support showered by a group of Filipino migrant workers at the stands.
With the victory, Gilas had already swept their two-game road trip as they also prevailed over Jordan, 74-66, in Amman.
Now, Gilas headed back to Manila oozing with confidence as they are slowly winning the hearts and minds of their countrymen who are all hoping to see them come up with a strong performance in the FIBA World Cup that the country will host in August next year.
“I think we got a lot of energy from the crowd. They really gave us a huge boost,” Gilas coach Chot Reyes said, thanking the members of their “Sixth Man” who trooped to the arena despite their busy schedules.
“They just wouldn’t allow us to lose until we hit our stride until we finally hit some shots in the second half and the third quarter.”
But it took more than the crowd for Gilas to ward off the Saudis, who are now being bannered by a new coach in head coach Johan Roijakkers of the Netherlands — a veteran tactician in the German Bundesliga.
After tight first quarter in which the Saudis held their ground to forge a deadlock at 16, the 7-foot-3 Sotto started to make his presence felt as he carried Gilas to a 31-25 lead at halftime.
Then, with the crowd pumping life into Gilas Pilipinas, Pogoy presided over a sizzling third-quarter attack to jack up the lead to 16, 50-34, with 4:34 left in the third.
As if the sizzling run wasn’t enough, Scottie Thompson connected with Sotto for a beautiful alley-oop play, enough to spark a thunderous roar from Filipino spectators for a 65-53 lead with only 5:29 left.
Although Mathna Almarwani knocked down a three-pointer to slice the Gilas lead to within eight in the final 2:08 mark, it was not enough as Gilas went on to seal the victory.
Pogoy and Ramos fired 13 points while Sotto flirted with a double-double performance as he finished with 11 markers and nine rebounds.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game. We have high respect for Saudi Arabia. Obviously, we’re very happy with the result,” Reyes said.
“For the game, we really focused on our defense and we’re able to stop their players and I think the result that we’re able to hold them below 70 points speaks well on our ability to defend.”
Thompson, the hero in their impressive win over Jordan, said they are grateful for the support given by their countrymen, who took a time off their busy schedules and went straight into the arena from their respective offices.
“First of all, we just want to thank God and to all Filipinos who came here and supported us. Coming into this game, we know it will be a tough game and Saudi is a tough team,” said Thompson, who finished with nine points and nine rebounds.
