SOUTH Korean coach Cho Sanghyun can no longer say this was another case of a “lucky shot.”
As the world celebrated Father’s Day yesterday, Gilas Pilipinas bucked a listless start and repeated over the South Koreans, scoring an 82-77 victory as the curtains fell on the third window of the 2021 FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers behind closed doors at the Angeles University Foundation Sports and Cultural Center in Pampanga.
In a seesaw battle mirroring their first encounter last June 16 that saw Gilas escape with a hard-earned win, the Filipinos held their ground, proving their earlier 81-78 victory on a dramatic buzzer-beating triple by SJ Belangel was no fluke.
Justine Baltazar gave Gilas a 79-75 lead on a dunk with 33 seconds left in the fourth quarter and after the Koreans pulled to within 77-79 on a Ra Gun A layup, Belangel sank a free throw off an unsportsmanlike foul from Daesung Lee in final 25.5 seconds before do-it-all guard Dwight Ramos added another that made it 81-77, only 15.8 ticks left.
Ramos missed the second charity but pulled down an offensive board off his miss and added another foul shot to seal the victory for Gilas.
The 6-foot-5 Ramos led the nationals with a team-high 19 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep, to go with three rebounds, five assists, and two steals, while 7-foot-3 center Kai Sotto chipped in 10 markers and seven caroms.
Jordan Heading and RJ Abarrientos also had 10 each for the all-amateur Philippine five that completed an emphatic two-game sweep of Korea and finished their campaign unbeaten with a 6-0 card going into the FIBA Asia Cup in August in Indonesia.
The win served as a fitting follow-up to Gilas’ 76-51 drubbing of Indonesia last Friday.
South Korea, which finished the tourney with a 4-2 record, came off a 120-53 shellacking of Thailand last Saturday.
Gilas coach Tab Baldwin was understandably elated as his squad accomplished its mission.
“Obviously overjoyed to take three wins from this window and two against South Korea. I think that’s a great credit to this basketball team and these young players,” Baldwin said.
“But also, I want to make sure that everybody acknowledges what a great job our coaching staff did. And I’m talking excluding myself,” he added.
Determined to redeem themselves from a numbing defeat to the Filipinos that their coach said was a result of a “lucky shot,” the Koreans zoomed to a 9-0 start early on.
But with Ramos spearheading the attack, Gilas fought back and held a 38-34 lead at the half.
Baldwin said stymieing South Korea’s transition game, taking care of the ball, and battling for rebounds were among the keys in his wards’ win.
“I think that tells the story. That’s a pretty good formula for beating a South Korea team,” Baldwin said. “You hold their transition game down, and you don’t turn the ball over and you get on the boards.”
