GILAS Pilipinas 3x3 paid for a horror start at it lost to Qatar, 21-12, on Wednesday in the Fiba 3x3 Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Graz, Austria.
A lackadaisical start left the Filipinos playing catch-up all game long as they fell behind 7-0 and never recovered, suffering their first defeat in Pool C.
Abdulrahman Saad and Nedim Muslic were just blazing from deep, combining for five deuces as the Philippines simply had no answer to their firepower.
Muslic put the game away with the game-winning two-pointer over the outstretched arms of CJ Perez with 1:44 to spare.
Joshua Munzon tried his best to carry the load for the Philippines with five points while Perez fired blanks, getting his five points after Qatar had pulled away.
Santi Santillan and Mo Tautuaa scored one apiece in the defeat.
Gilas 3x3 now finds itself in a must-win situation to keep its hopes alive for a 2020 Tokyo Olympic ticket as it turns its attention to Slovenia in the 9:35 p.m. game.
The Slovenians suffered a shocking 19-17 defeat to France earlier in the day.
Saad got buried three long bombs to lead the Qatari charge with 10 points, while Muslic drilled nine points built on two deuces in the win.
Qatar earlier bested Dominican Republic, 17-12.
The scores:
QATAR 21 -- Saad 10, Muslic 9, Ndoye 2, Saeed 0.
PHILIPPINES 12 -- Munzon 5, Perez 5, Santillan 1, Tautuaa 1.
We are now on Quento! Download the app on Google Play or App Store and enjoy more articles and videos from SPIN.ph and other Summit Media websites.