GILAS Pilipinas fell under the might of a strong second half by Montenegro, losing 102-87, in their friendly on Sunday night at the Philsports Arena.
Trailing early on, the Black Mountain finally got into their rythym in the second period to take a close 44-42 lead with them to the locker room.
It turned out to be the tip of the iceberg for the 18th-ranked team in the world as it unleashed 32 third-quarter points for a 76-64 lead with a full quarter left in the game held behind closed doors.
Chicago Bulls center Nikola Vucevic had 18 and nine rebounds to pace the Black Mountain, scoring 11 in the breakaway third quarter.
Montenegro eventually led by as many as 20 to hand the Philippines its first loss in two friendlies played at home in the final week leading to the FIBA World Cup.
Gilas, an 85-62 winner over Ivory Coast last Friday, was led by Jordan Clarkson with 27 points and five rebounds, but he committed eight of the team's 19 turnovers.
The scores:
Philippines (87) - Clarkson 27, Fajardo 19, Ramos 13, Thompson 8, Edu 6, Abando 5, Aguilar 5, Malonzo 4, Oftana 0, K. Ravena 0, Perez 0, Pogoy 0, Sotto 0.
Montenegro (102) - Vucevic 18, Dubljevic 16, Perry 15, Mhailovic 12, Radovic 9, Radoncic 8, Ivanovic 7, Popovic 6, Slavkovic 5, Simonovic 4, Ilic 2, Drobnjak 0.
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