Defensive discipline, intense physicality, and fine shooting were the keys for Angola as the 11-time African champs bossed the winless Philippines, 80-70, in the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup Sunday evening at the Araneta Coliseum.
Up by only five points with a minute left, spitfire Gerson Domingos swished a right corner triple off a crucial assist by Bruno Fernando to make it a three-possession game with 47 seconds left.
Domingos’ triple came after his defender RR Pogoy left him wide open, opting to double on Fernando, despite post coverage from AJ Edu and Kai Sotto.
Angola’s clogging defense stymied Gilas’ offense, especially in the second quarter, when the Africans launched a 19-5 run, capped by triples from Gerson Goncalves and Fernando to overcome a 12-19 first quarter deficit.
Goncalves then shot two early triples in the fourth quarter while Domingos sank a pull-up jumper to pad Angola’s lead to double-digit, 66-55, in the seven minute mark.
Gilas clawed their way back, 68-73, approaching the last minute with inside attacks from Edu and Sotto, as well as forced turnovers by late sub Rhenz Abando, but Domingo’s winning triple staved off any Filipino comeback.
“Today we made nine threes. My credit to all players because we were not shooting well in the past game and all the preparation games but they are still practicing. I can guarantee you that nobody in this championship is practicing more and shooting more than us. Nobody,” Angola head coach Pep Claros explained after the game.
“We’re running some plays and we look for that. We’re not surprised. It’s our duty to run to make many kind of plays to confuse the opponent, he added.
Goncalves led Angola with 17 points off four triples; Domingos tallied 15 points and seven assists; and Fenando added 14 points and seven boards.
The Philippines was led by Utah Jazz star Jordan Clarkson with 21 points and seven assists. No other Gilas players scored in double digits.
“We can’t make three point shots, 18 per cent from three points, it’s not gonna make it done,” Philippine head coach Chot Reyes remarked.
With the result, Gilas needs to win by at least 26 points against Italy on Tueday and hope for an Angola loss against the Dominican Republic to advance in the next round.
The Italians lost in the first game against Dominicana, 82-87.
“The objective is to get to the Olympics, so no matter how flickering that hope is, that hope is still alive. So we still have to keep our heads up and find a way to play our best in the next game,” Reyes explained.
However, even that chance is very slim for the Philippines as Japan has won, 98-88, versus Finland in Okinawa earlier.
Box scores:
ANGOLA 80 – Goncalves, 17, Domingos 15, Fernando 14, Bango 10, de Sousa 10, Kokila 4, Dundao 4, Francisco 3, Paulo 2, Monteiro 1, Fernandes 0, Maconda 0.
PHILIPPINES 70 – Clarkson 21, Edu 9, Sotto 8, Ramos 8, Pogoy 8, Perez 7, Fajardo 4, Ravena 3, Abando 2, Aguilar 0, Malonzo 0, Thompson 0.
Quarter scores: 12-19, 36-33, 56-52, 80-70
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