GILAS Pilipinas may have won Friday night’s game against Jordan in dramatic fashion, but the reality is that they are still on the bubble for the four slots in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
The Philippines is still in fifth place in the team standings of Group E with a 3-4 win-loss record after its 82-81 overtime victory over Jordan in a game that saw Kevin Quiambao bury the game-winning three, and Kai Sotto making the game-saving play with a block against Abdullah Olajuwon.
READ: Gilas rides clutch KQ three to pull off gritty OT win over Jordan
Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone isn’t celebrating too much ahead of another important game against Iran on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena - their second of their final six remaining matches in the second round of the World Cup qualifiers.
“From our calculations, we’ve got to win five of six in this second round. We have six games. Two against Syria, two against Iraq, and one more against Jordan. We’ve got to win five or six if we want to have a shot of making the World Cup,” Cone said.
Gilas Pilipinas also got a break earlier in the day, when New Zealand defeated Iran in overtime, 93-91. With the results of Friday’s games, Iran, Jordan, and New Zealand all have a 5-2 win-loss record, two games ahead of Gilas Pilipinas.
“We got some help… when New Zealand beat Iran and that was important for us to continue our journey. But we’ve got to take care of our own business,” Cone said.
Iran will be out to rebound from its loss against New Zealand in Sunday’s game against Gilas Pilipinas.
Team Melli got 19 points from Matin Aghanjapour and 16 points from Mohammad Amini, but he shot just 4-of-14 from the field, and failed to convert on all of his five three-point shots.
“This is like halftime for us. We haven’t won anything. We need to win the whole game right now. It’s just halftime. We got another game to play,” Cone added.
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