GILAS Pilipinas tightened up on defense after the halftime break to blow past Jordan with a 74-66 victory in the 2023 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers on Friday morning (Manila time) at the Prince Hamza Hall in Amman.
Kai Sotto came alive for the Philippines in the second half and led the squad with 16 points, seven rebounds, two assists, and two blocks, stepping up to the challenge of a bullish Ahmad Al Dwairi in the first half.
The 7-3 slotman's inside presence was huge in Gilas' third-quarter turnaround, where the Filipinos held Jordan to just 10 points and time and again frustrated the home team to a abysmal 4-of-17 shooting.
[READ: Gilas fans rue limited tickets for Pinoys in Jordan game]
That stretch allowed the Pinoys to wiggle away from a 43-all deadlock and build an eight-point lead, 53-45, after a naturalized player Ange Kouame's only basket of the game off a CJ Perez feed.
Everything just fell into place for Gilas from there, the lead reaching its highest at 14, 71-57, after a Poy Erram tip-in with 4:18 to play.

Bobby Ray Parks kept the Philippines afloat early, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first half as he shot 3-of-9 from distance, to go with a pair of boards, assists, and steals.
Him steadying the ship paved the way for the others to follow suit, most notably Perez who ended up with his 11 points, five assists, and three rebounds.
Scottie Thompson was also a calming presence for Gilas, with the reigning PBA MVP chipping in eight points, 13 boards, eight assists, and one steal to help the visitors improve to a 4-3 record in Group E ahead of its last road game against Saudi Arabia on Monday (Manila time).
Their solid games more than made up for Dwight Ramos' 2-of-11 night from the field to wound up with just five points, four assists, and three boards as he got the unenviable job of defending naturalized player Dar Tucker.
Kouame also fouled out in his 11 minutes of play for Gilas.
Nonetheless, it was the biggest victory in these Asian qualifiers for Gilas which dealt Jordan its first home loss since 2018.
Jordan fell to 3-4, a tough outcome as it was shooting for a sweep in the fifth window.

Tucker shouldered the load for the Falcons with his 22 points and three boards, but he only shot 2-of-8 from distance where Jordan went a combined 3-of-25.
Al Dwairi was also silenced in the second half, scoring just eight points in the last two frames. He scored 18 points to go with 16 boards but committed 10 of Jordan's 21 turnovers.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 74 - Sotto 16, Parks 13, Perez 11, Thompson 8, Pogoy 7, Ramos 5, Aguilar 5, Erram 4, Malonzo 3, Kouame 2, Oftana 0.
JORDAN 66 - Tucker 23, Al Dwairi 18, Bzai 9, H. Abbas 7, Ibrahim 6, Alhendi 3, Alhamarsheh 0, Z. Abbas 0, Hussein 0, Kanaan 0, Alnajdawi 0.
Quarters: 21-20, 37-41, 58-51, 74-66
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