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| Chris Koon and Ralph Cu celebrate Gilas' escape against Thailand as Freddie Lish is heartbroken that he did not save his team in the end. SBP |
MANILA--Gilas Pilipinas literally heaved a sigh of relief at the final buzzer as Thailand's comeback attempt fell short and let their Southeast Asian rival escape with a 17-15 win in their duel for the top spot in Pool A of the FIBA 3x3 Asia Cup qualifying round.
While their Maundy Thursday dinner would not be their "last supper" in Singapore, Gilas was literally a few inches away from completely blowing an early nine-point lead, only that Freddie Lish's buzzer-beating two missed the target altogether.
Two hours after a five-minute demolition job against the Maldives for a 21-11 win, Thailand, which made headlines after stunning well-known European basketball powerhouse Lithuania in the FIBA 3x3 Champions Cup, found itself on the verge of getting destroyed by Gilas as the Filipinos raced to a 14-5 lead midway through their game.
A tough corner two from Ralph Cu to beat the shotclock buzzer capped Gilas' early barrage.
However, four straight points from Chanatip Jakrawan sparked Thailand's 8-1 run that cut the lead down to two, 15-13, with 1:39 to play.
Jerrick Ahanmisi appeared to have shut the door on Thailand with a huge deuce for a 17-13 cushion with 1:19 to go.
Still, Thailand did not give up as Lish scored on back-to-back layups to draw them to within two again with 17.8 seconds left.
Gilas then made a crucial error when they did not attempt a field goal in time before the shotclock expired, giving Thailand 5.8 seconds to force overtime.
Lish had a great look from beyond the arc for the equalizer, but he airballed the two-pointer, and Gilas let the ball sail out of bounds at the final buzzer.
Cu scored six points, all from beyond the arc, for Gilas, which booked a spot in the main draw, joining Asian 3x3 powerhouse Mongolia and Chinese Taipei in Pool A.
Chris Koon added five markers, Jerrick Ahanmisi put up four, and Sean Alter, who dominated the interior against Maldives earlier Thursday, was kept in check this time and held to two.
The men's team's win also means both Gilas' 3x3 squads are in the "Final 12" of their respective gender-based divisions, as the women's team was automatically seeded to the main draw.
Both national teams will take Good Friday off before swinging into action on Black Saturday.
Jakrawan led Thailand with seven points, Lish added five, Noppachai Thongpool contributed two, and Panthawat Techasamran put up one.
Lish, who punctuated the Thais' dominance against the Maldivians with back-to-back deuces, could not get it going from the outside against Gilas as all his points came off layups.
