GILAS Pilipinas trailed Italy, 48-39, at halftime on Tuesday night in a game at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum that they need to win in order to progress to the second round of the 2023 Fiba Basketball World Cup.
The Philippines had a solid start to build a 23-20 lead at the end of the first quarter, but Italy found its touch and led by as many as 11 points in the second period.
With the halftime score, Gilas Pilipinas is left with a mountain to climb going into the second half as they need to win by 12 points or more in order to clinch a berth in the second round or be relegated to the classification phase.
Jordan Clarkson had his usual numbers but got support from Rhenz Abando and Roger Pogoy to keep the game from getting out of hand for Gilas.
Clarkson had 10 points on 4-of-11 shooting from the field as he remained the top offensive option of Gilas Pilipinas in the first half.
Abando, who got cheers from the Big Dome crowd upon entering the game at the 2:42-mark of the first, got eight points and shot a perfect 3-of-3 from the field.
Pogoy had six points, hitting two of Gilas Pilipinas’ six threes in the first half.
Simone Fontecchio, Clarkson’s teammate with the Utah Jazz, led Italy with 14 points on 3-of-7 shooting from threes for Gilas Pilipinas.
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