Brownlee’s rally go down the drain as Gilas falls short vs Jordan

As far as non-bearing games, this one has stung quite a bit.

Ask Scottie Thompson, who apologized for missing two crucial free throws.

“I think so many Filipinos are down tonight,” Thompson said last night.

Gilas Pilipinas rallied hard in the second half after an early loss, but failed to seal the deal in a 91-90 loss to Jordan in the close of the two-nation Fiba (International Basketball Federation) Asian World Cup qualifier in the Philippines. Arena.

And PBA Most Valuable Player Thompson’s missed freebie proved to be a blow for the Philippines, which had already qualified for the basketball showpiece in August but used the qualifiers as a means to build its best squad for the World Cup.

And probably learned a few lessons too.

“Even if we lose, we’ll definitely learn a lot from this,” Justin Brownlee said. “I really enjoyed playing with the guys, for the flag and for the Philippines. It was a lifetime memory.”

Reminder

“I lost that free throw was a good way to remind me that I still have to improve,” Thompson, who guard Ginebra Barangay said cinch for the World Cup point, said. “We lacked and could have won if no free throws were missed. I had fouls down about, including one that surprised us. I will definitely learn from this.

Scottie Thompson: My biggest missed free throw in my career. #FIBAWC2023 | @LanceAgcaoilINQ pic.twitter.com/wlwNuV77rx

– INQUIRER Sports (@INQUIRERSports) February 27, 2023

Brownlee fired 41 points, coming out hot after the halftime break to fire up the Filipinos in a fiery comeback that turned the game wide open into a you-or-me affair down the stretch.

“You see the will, the energy and the fight in this team. Philippine basketball is about playing with your heart and giving everything you have and that’s what we did,” said the naturalized player during the loss that made the Philippines get a 6-4 win-loss card.

“In the first half, I think it was just our defense. You have to give Jordan a lot of credit. If we could have tightened up our defense in the first half, the game would have been different,” he said.

Jamie Malonzo added 11 for the Philippines.

‘We understand the problem’

Dar Tucker and Freddy Ibrahim joined hands in a blistering first half where Jordan converted half of 24 attempts from three-point land to go up by as many as 25 points, 41-16.

“We came here, we know that they beat us at home and we know the problem and why they beat us,” Tucker said. “I have nothing but respect for every player on the team, but we just concentrated more and tried to focus more on shooting. And that’s what we did, we succeeded.

Unable to draw any extra energy from a crowd that looked thinner than the one that attended Friday against Lebanon, the Filipinos went in when Brownlee and Malonzo closed the gap, only for the visiting Falcons’ Zaid Abbas to extend their lead to 19 on the half-hour break. .

The Philippines recorded 17 triples in its win over Lebanon three nights ago, but the hot shots were on the other end of the court in the first two quarters as Jordan hit 12 three-pointers before heading into the locker room with a 60-41 lead. .

After Thompson’s missed free throw with 31 seconds remaining and the game decided in the final count, the Philippines still had a chance to turn the outcome around. But Ray Parks Jr., who worked hard on both ends of the floor in the second half helped by the Gilas rally, missed a potential game-winner.

The Philippines’ next big tournament is the Asian Games in Cambodia this May where the Filipinos hope to grab a high perch.

Jordan, who got a free ride to the majors a few days ago, also finished with a 6-4 record.

—With a REPORT FROM LANCE AGCAOILI

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