By Patrick Sutare
PASAY--The Turkish National Basketball Team shook off a rusty start and escaped a late comeback to beat Gilas Pilipinas, 84-76, on their final tune-up game at the Mall of Asia Arena on Friday night.
In contrast to what unfolded in their first meeting in Istanbul, Gilas came in to the game with a much improved versions themselves, going toe-to-toe to start the game and making crucial runs to stay within striking distance to their Turkish counterparts.
The second half turned out to be a test of composure for both squads.
Turkey led by as much as 17 as they went on a 10-0 rampage to start the third quarter, 50-33.
But Gilas maintained its poise to avoid making the game-situation out of hand.
Efforts from its fresh recruits Troy Rosario and Ray Parks capped off a 20-8 run to cut Turkey's lead to five, 53-58, before squandering the momentum and trailed by 12 heading to the 4th, 53-65.
Things got heated up in the middle of the final quarter as Marc Pingris and Omer Asik were both slapped with double technical fouls due to a slight commotion, making the Turkish NBA player disqualified for the rest of the game.
The event momentarily proved out to be a spark plug for Gilas as they went on another 5-0 run courtesy of Gabe Norwood, but Turkey had an answer to every blow that Gilas threw.
Terrence Romeo tried to carry his team back from the hole with eight straight points but did not have enough time to finish the comeback.
Guard Ali Muhammed spearheaded Turkey's balanced offensive load with 16 markers.
Andray Blatche led the Philippines with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Jayson Castro and Gabe Norwood chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
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