GILAS Pilipinas survived a big scare from Japan, pulling off a hard-earned 73-66 at the start of the second phase of the preliminary stage of the International Basketball Federation Asia Men’s Championship on Sunday at the Changsa Social Work College Gymnasium in Hunan, China.
Naturalized player Andray Blatche, playing with an injured leg, had a crucial tip in and a defensive stop in the closing minute to help the Philippines with a win in their Group E battle and improve their standing to 2-1.
Blatche had a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, Ranidel de Ocampo added 13 markers, while Jayson Castro and Terrence Romeo each had 12 points.
Earlier Iran continued to lead the way in Group E with a 111-56 demolition of Hong Kong, while India stunned Palestine, 73-70, sending its victims to a tie with the Philippines with 2-1 slate.
Blatche hurt his right foot early in the second period, but the Filipinos used a 16-4 run to turn a 19-29 deficit into a 35-33 lead at halftime.
With Blatche on the bench, Romeo carried the scoring load for PHL 5 in the third period and gave the Filipinos a 54-46 separation entering the final canto.
Japan, which dropped to 1-2 with the loss, continued to threaten as Ryoma Hashimoto’s basket put Japan within one, 56-57, with 5:39 remaining.
Blatche, who was reinserted by Head Coach Tab Baldwin midway through the fourth quarter, completed a three-point play that gave PHL 5 some breathing room, 60-56.
Again, Japan refused to quit and Hashimoto’s triple tied the game for the last time at 64-all, 2:38 remaining.
De Ocampo responded with a huge triple in the next play, Calvin Abueva added a pair of free throws and Blatche tipped in his own miss for a 71-66 spread with 52.6 ticks left.
Blatche sealed the win with a defensive stop on Makoto Hiejima and Castro added two more free throws for the final score.
The Philippines battles defending champion Iran on Monday at 11:45 in the morning in what could be a critical game for the PHL 5.