Gilas beats South Korea twice to sweep FIBA Qualifier

Gilas Pilipinas wrapped up the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers with a perfect record after beating arch nemesis South Korea twice.

Gilas capped the Qualifiers by beating the Koreans, 82-77, on their second meeting at the Angeles University Foundation Arena in San Fernando, Pampanga. They will head to the World Cup qualifying event in Indonesia in August.

Dwight Ramos finished with 19 points on a 5-of-9 shooting from beyond the arc, enabling Gilas to beat South Korea twice in the tournament.

Gilas Pilipinas, after trailing by as many as 17 in its first meeting with South Korea in their first encounter, had another slow start. The Filipinos fell behind, 9-0, but came back with eight unanswered points to set up another tight match.

The Filipinos were able to take a 38-34 lead at the half.

Gilas shot a steady 6-of-15 in the first half. They were able to get South Korea’s most efficient player, Ricardo Ratliffe, a.k.a. Ra Gun-ah, out of the game for extended minutes after picking up two quick fouls in the early part of the second period.

Prior to being replaced, Ra made all of his six attempts from the field.

In the third period, the Philippines led by as many as nine, but South Korea was able to wipe out that lead quickly capped by Hyungjung Lee’s three free throws after he got clipped in the arm by Navarro and shoved the Koreans within striking distance, 43-42, setting up another exciting wind up.

The Filipinos’ 20 offensive rebounds kept the team on track, six more than the Koreans, while giving the squad 40 points inside the shaded lane.

Down the stretch, Ramos dove for the loose ball on what appeared to be a near turnover, then found Justine Baltazar for an unmolested dunk, giving Gilas Pilipinas an 81-77 lead with 33 seconds to go.