Gilas Pilipinas exits Jordan stint after loss to Tunisia

By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña

Gilas Pilipinas will have to head back home and make some adjustments after absorbing another loss in the King Abdullah Cup against Tunisia, 80-68, and settled for fourth place overall.

With the absence of Ange Kouame, the Philippines’ newly naturalized player, Gilas was vulnerable in the shaded area and just gave up too much size.

Tunisia got rolling early into the game as they just dumped the leather underneath for easy deuces but the resilient Gilas squad would keep themselves within striking distance as Carl Tamayo began to catch fire.

Tamayo would go on and perform at a high level in the absence of Kouame and finished the ball game with 14 points and six rebounds.

The spark led by Tamayo commanded a huge Gilas run that would cut Tunisia’s 16-point lead to just three, 66-69.

However, Tunisia began to run their plays that helped them balloon the lead in the first half and continued to feed their big men underneath to either score or fish for fouls.

SJ Belangel also had a solid offensive game after dropping 12 points but his efforts were still not enough to complete the upset against the intimidating size of the Tunisians.

The loss landed Gilas in the fourth place of the tournament and ended their Jordan stint with a disappointing three-game losing streak.