MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Andray Blatche played through an apparent ankle injury and provided the dagger as Gilas Pilipinas squeaked past Japan, 73-66, to improve their second round record to 2-1 in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship on Sunday, September 27 in Changsha, Hunan China.
(HIGHLIGHTS: Gilas vs Japan – 2015 FIBA Asia second round)
The naturalized big man injured his right ankle early in the second quarter but fought through the pain and carried Gilas, scoring the dagger two points on an aggressive move to the basket for a 71-66 edge with under a minute to play.
Before then, the Philippine national men's basketball team played toe to toe with the Japanese all game long until Ranidel De Ocampo drained the go-ahead triple from the top of the key to shove Gilas ahead, 67-64, with 2:17 remaining.
Free throws from Calvin Abueva and Jayson Castro, or Jayson William in international play, put the game beyond doubt.
Blatche made 7 of his 18 field goals to post a game-high 18 points along with 10 rebounds, an assist and a block.
The 6-foot-11 center-forward first injured his ankle in the 7:17 mark of the second quarter.
He played on but aggravated his ankle on a turnaround basket with 8:55 left in the third frame. Blatche hopped on one leg all the way to the bench but returned with 8:51 left in the payoff period after being heavily taped.
Ranidel De Ocampo paced the Philippine team with 13 points on 3-of-6 triples to go with 5 rebounds, two assists and a steal. Castro and Terrence Romeo contributed 12 points apiece, while Abueva added 10 points, 6 rebounds and a steal.
The 31st ranked Gilas lost the battle of the boards once again in this tournament, 43-47, and struggled for the better part of the contest, even allowing the 47th ranked Japan to lead several times.
They shot better from the stripe to start but soon lost their touch to finish 19-of-28. And unlike their blowout victories over Hong Kong and Kuwait, the Filipinos failed to make double-figure assists and had just 7 against Japan.
Makoto Hiejima topscored for Japan with 17 points on 8 for 14 shooting while Joji Takeuchi contributed a double-double of 13 markers and 11 boards.
The Philippines will have a difficult assignment in reigning champion Iran on Monday, September 28.
Scores:
Philippines (73):Blatche 18, De Ocampo 13, Castro 12, Romeo 12, Abueva 10, Norwood 3, Thoss 3, Intal 0, Pingris 0, Ganuelas 0, Taulava 0.
Japan (66): Hiejima 17, Takeuchi 13, Ono 9, Furukawa 7, Tanaka 6, Hashimoto 6, Tabuse 4, Ota 2, Arao 2, Matsui 0, Hirose 0.
Quarter scores: 14-18, 35-33, 54-46, 73-66.
– Rappler.com