SAUDI Arabia gave Gilas Pilipinas fits, at least halfway in their duel yesterday.
But the Filipinos buckled down to work in the last two quarters and banked on their new-found strength– defense– to get the job done.
“I thought they came hard, came with a very good game plan and we expected it,” national coach Chot Reyes said. “We knew the high quality of this team, so we mentally prepared ourselves to struggle, especially after coming from a tough game in Jordan. Luckily, we stayed patient through our early struggles.
“Obviously, we’re very happy with the result. For the game, we really focused on our defense and we’re able to stop their players. I think the result that we’re able to hold them below 70 points speaks well of our ability to defend,” he added.
Reyes spoke after Gilas scored a 76-63 victory over Saudi Arabia in Group E action of the fifth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
Dwight Ramos fired 13 points, on top of four rebounds, and three assists for Gilas, while Roger Pogoy bombed in three three-pointers to finish with 13 markers and four boards.
Seven-foot-3 center Kai Sotto added 11 and nine, while CJ Perez had 10 points and four caroms for Gilas.
Reigning PBA MVP Scottie Thompson barely missed a double-double with nine markers and nine rebounds for the Philippine five which completed a two-game sweep of its road matches, counting a 74-66 triumph over Jordan four days ago in Amman and improved to 5-3.
