GILAS Pilipinas caught fire in the fourth quarter and roared back for a thrilling 74-71 win over Qatar in a rousing debut in the 2nd Doha Invitational Cup early Saturday morning (Manila time).
Dwight Ramos, Justine Brownlee, and big man AJ Edu led the Filipinos’ comeback in the final period that erased an 11-point deficit.
A Brownlee slam off an Edu assist gave Gilas the lead for good, 70-69, before two free throws by Scottie Thompson in the final 16 seconds proved to be the game’s marginal points as the pro-Filipino crowd at the University of Qatar went ecstatic.
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Ramos shot 3-of-5 from three point range and finished with 15 points for Gilas, which also got 12 points and seven rebounds from June Mar Fajardo and 10 points each from Brownlee and Thompson.
Edu also played well in his first game under coach Tim Cone as he contributed for six points and 10 rebounds in a performance he spiked with a rim-rattling two-handed slam dunk that capped a 7-0 Gilas run in the fourth quarter in a game where it trailed by as many as 60-49 late in the third.
The Qataris still had one final chance to send the game into overtime, but naturalized player Mike Lewis II missed a three-point attempt in the team's final play.
Tyler Harris, the other naturalized player fielded by Qatar, led the team with 17 points on 8-of-10 shooting from the field, while Lewis was the only other player in double figures for the host with 15 points.
Gilas pulled off the win despite Brownlee being held to just a single point in the first three quarters and the Filipinos scoring only 11 points in the entire third period.
But the team turned on the switch when it needed most, with two free throws by Brownlee sparking the huge comeback in the fourth. Qatar still held a 66-58 lead at the 7:50 mark.
Arakji, Spellman miss out
Gilas though, won’t be having the benefit of a long rest as it returns to the court late Saturday night (Manila time) to face a Lebanon team that is without star players Wael Arakji and Omari Spellman.
Egypt earlier withstood a fourth quarter rally by Lebanon to hack out an 82-70 win in the first game.
The Pharaohs led by as many as 14 points but saw the gap narrowed to just 67-65 after The Cedars’ Mark Khoueiry hit a three-pointer in the final 6:54 minute of the match.
But Egypt was quick to regroup behind an 11-2 run behind Amr Zahran, Mohamed Taha Mohamed, and Youssef Wael Aboushousha to restore order, 78-67, with 1:45 remaining.
Mohamed Taha Mohamed hit 4-of-8 from three-point range to finish with 26 points, eight assists, and three steals for Egypt, ranked No. 38 in the world.
In the absence of Arakji and Spellman, the Cedards went to James Majok, who delivered for 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The scores:
First Game
Egypt (82) – Mohamed 26, Aboushousha 17, Oraby 11, Mahmoud 9, Shehata 6, A. Zahran 5, Abdellatif 5, Khalaf 2, Nasr 1, Zahran 0, Elmekawi 0, Abdelgawad 0.
Lebanon (70) – Majok 17, Zeinoun 12, Khoueiry 10, Hadidian 10, Ezzedine 9, Mansour 7, Mezher 3, Alkhoury 2, Moussa 0, Samaha 0, Rtail 0, Makhlouf 0.
Quarterscores: 23-15; 47-37: 64-56; 82-70.
Second Game
Philippines (74) - Ramos 15, Fajardo 12, Brownlee 10, Thompson 10, Quiambao 7, Edu 6, Perez 6, Oftana 3, Tamayo 3, Newsome 2.
Qatar (71) - Harris 17, Lewis 15, Ndao 9, Fouda 9, Seydou 9, Abbsher 7, Saad 3, Magassa 2, Dieng 0, Grantham 0, Avdic 0.
Quarterscores: 18-20, 38-40, 51-50, 74-71.
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