Gilas Pilipinas extended its two straight wins in the 39th William Jones Cup as they beat the Japanese squad on Tuesday afternoon, July 18 in Taipei, settling a 100-85 win.
The Philippine national team drove a blast of shots in the final quarter with Matthew Wright—who scored 15 points and 4 assists—keeping the nine-point lead during the last three minutes of the ball game.
Filipino-German Christian Standhardinger delivered 22 points and 15 rebounds, with Mike Myers capturing 17 points and 11 points for Kiefer Ravena and Jio Jalalon apiece.
“In an elite tournament like this, there’s no such thing as an easy game,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes to international media.
Japanese players barely kept the lead in the first half with shots coming from Shuto Ando who scored 11 points. Still, the supposedly inferior team brought a tough and close action in the court.
White jerseys tried to keep the lead gap, but the men in blue managed to spark a momentum led by Standhardinger’s two, followed by a slam dunk coming from Myers. Jalalon tied the third frame in 66-66.
In fourth quarter, a marvelous reversed pass was made by Shusuke Ikuhara but soon overshadowed by Standhardinger’s dunk shot.
The action continued as Jalalon then scooped beneath the dribbles of the Japanese and made a steal to shoot in the course of a five-second run.
Gilas Pilipinas will face their archrival South Korea team next on Wednesday, July 19 at 5 p.m.
(Disclaimer: Photo Courtesy of CTBA)
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