The Philippines ran short in another cram job as the national men’s basketball team suffered its third loss in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup in an 83-90 closer against Italy on Tuesday night at the Araneta Coliseum.
The Italians heavily relied on three point shooting and pinpoint ball movement as an 8-0 at the tailend of the third quarter and the start of the fourth quarter padded the Azzuris’ lead, 78-60.
Still down by 18, 80-62, midway in the payoff period, Gilas frantically applied pressure defense anchored on the seldom used Kiefer Ravena and Jamie Malonzo, launching a furious 19-8 run late in the game with attacks to the basket by Malonzo, Jordan Clarkson, Dwight Ramos, and a triple by Ravena to trim the lead, 81-88, coming to the last minute.
However, Clarkson missed on a crucial driving floater while Ravena muffed a triple from the right elbow as Gilas ran out of time to complete the comeback.
It was a tight ballgame in the first quarter, with Gilas leading, 23-30, as Rhenz Abando stepped up in helping Clarkson in scoring, finishing with all of his eight points in the first half after only averaging two points in the last two games.
However, back-to-back triples from Marco Spissu and Stefano Tonut erected a 47-38 lead for the Italians approaching halftime, sustaining that lead in the third quarter by continuing on sinking their set-up threes.
“We shared the ball much more than in other games. Tonight in defense, we had to play a little bit different than our philosophy because Clarkson is a typical player we had to control differently,” commented the charismatic Italian head coach Gianmarco Pozzecco.
Simone Fontecchio led the Azzuris with 18 points and six boards while Spissu and Tonut scored 13 points apiece.
Clarkson was the sole bright spot for Gilas, as usual, with 23 points, seven rebounds, and six assists, with Ramos as the only other double-digit scorer with 14 points.
“Tough game. But I think we competed in all three games. We came out here and gave our best effort trying to figure out games and get wins,” Clarkson said.
With the result, the Dominican Republic, who won, 75-67, against Angola earlier, topped Group A with three wins and will barge in to the second round alongside the two-win, one-loss Italy.
Angola placed third in the group with a 1-2 record while the Philippines are likewise eliminated at 0-3.
The Philippines, though, remain in contention for Asia’s lone slot in the 2024 Paris Olympics as Jordan, Lebanon, Iran, and Japan were also eliminated in the group stage. All these teams will battle it out in the 17th-32nd place classification round.
China remains to be the only Asian team in contention for the championship but it needs a huge win against Puerto Rico and a huge South Sudan loss against Serbia in the final Group B match day to capture Asia’s Olympic slot in basketball.
Box score:
ITALY 90 – Fontecchio 18, Ricci 14, Spissu 13, Tonut 13, Pajola 11, Melli 10, Polonara 6, Datome 5, Severini 0.
PHILIPPINES 83 – Clarkson 23, Ramos 14, Pogoy 9, Edu 8, Abando 8, Ravena 8, Malonzo 7, Fajardo 4, Sotto 2, Thompson 0, Perez 0, Aguilar 0.
Quarter score: 20-23, 48-39, 60-73, 90-83
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