IT was evident which team was the more efficient one. and it showed in the final score.
The Philippine men’s national basketball team Gilas Pilipinas absorbed a terrible beating in its third game in the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China when it was ambushed by Jordan and lost by 25 points via an 87-62 beatdown.
With its first loss in the tournament, Gilas was relegated to the classification round in order to enter the quarterfinal round and still have a shot at the gold medal.
Jordan, meanwhile, topped Group C with a 3-0 record and thus gained an outright entry into the quarterfinals.
Jordan’s naturalized player and former Tropang Giga import Rondae Hollis Jefferson was his usual Kobe-like self where he topscored for Jordan with 24 points. He laced it with six boards and nine dimes for another all-around performance as he stamped his class against Barangay Ginebra resident import and bitter rival Justin Brownlee.
It was a catchup game for Gilas as it stared at a 13-point deficit in the first half. Gilas erased it in a difficult fightback to call it even at 52-52 but Jordan suddenly burst into life and took a 65-52 lead as the fourth quarter came into play and sustained the lead until the final buzzer.
(PHOTO CREDIT: Xinhua News)