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| Gilas celebrates after escaping Lebanon to stay in Division A. FIBA |
QUEZON CITY—Gilas Pilipinas blew a strong start but still held on to a 73-70 win against Lebanon to secure third place in Group B of the FIBA Women's Asia Cup Division A on Wednesday at the Shenzhen Sports Center.
Gilas first caught Lebanon off guard and raced to a 29-12 first quarter lead.
However, with Gillian Archer showing her might inside, Lebanon slowly crawled its way back to the game and eventually took the lead, 57-55, after the third quarter.
The game remained tight for most of the fourth quarter until Kacey Dela Rosa scored on a hook shot and Sumayah Sugapong hit two free throws off Maria Ghaleb's unsportsmanlike foul to give Gilas a 71-66 lead with 2:18 to go.
Archer, slowed down in crunch time due to foul trouble, tried to keep Lebanon in the game, but she eventually missed a crucial free throw that could have tied the game with 29 seconds to go.
Naomi Panganiban then hit two charities with 8.3 seconds left to up Gilas' lead back to three.
Needing a three to force overtime, Zena Elias made a crucial error as she went for a midrange shot amid the tight Gilas perimeter defense that she missed badly, and Sugapong secured the game-saving rebound for Gilas.
Panganiban had 15 points, four rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block to lead Gilas, which will face whoever ends up second in Group A in the quarterfinals.
South Korea battles Indonesia, and China takes on New Zealand in the final pair of Group A matches later Wednesday.
Sugapong and Jack Animam put up 14 points each with the latter also grabbing 16 rebounds for Gilas, which with the win will also stay in Division A without the need to play a relegation battle ahead of the Philippines' hosting of the 2027 edition.
Gilas also secured a spot in next year's FIBA Women's Basketball World Cup Qualifying Tournaments and still has a chance to make it to the World Cup outright if they win it all in the Asia Cup.
Archer finished with 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting, 10 rebounds, three assists, and one steal for Lebanon, which falls to the relegation battle, their last shot at staying in Division A.
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