LIKE the torrential rain at home, the shots finally fell for Gilas Pilipinas last Tuesday night.
The nationals ripped Saudi Arabia 77-62 for their first win in the King Abdullah Cup at the Prince Hamzah Hall in Amman.
Six-foot-8 Justine Baltazar came off the bench and led Gilas with 16 points on a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from deep, to go with four rebounds and three assists, while naturalized player Ange Kouame backed him up with 10 markers and two boards.
Skipper Isaac Go also added 10 and three as the all-amateur Philippine five shot 12-of-28 from beyond the arc for a 43-percent clip and bounced back from a 60-73 loss to Egypt last Monday.
Gilas was playing Jordan-B last night and will tangle with Tunisia today at the same venue.The match is set at 12 a.m.
Aside from Baltazar, Kouame, and Go, also part of the squad are Japan B.League Asian import Thirdy Ravena, Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, Geo Chiu, Jordan Heading, Mike Nieto, RJ Abarrientos, SJ Belangel, and William Navarro.
Making their return to the squad are erstwhile injured players Matt Nieto, Rey Suerte, and Dave Ildefonso.
Left at home were Allyn Bulanadi, Tzaddy Rangel, and injured players Jaydee Tungcab and Kemark Cariño.