TEAM Pilipinas was at near-full strength on Friday for its tuneup game against Lebanon at Epsilon Chi Center in University of the Philippines.
Veterans June Mar Fajardo and Jayson Castro spearheaded the cavalry as the Philippines continued its buildup for the fifth window of the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers later this month.
Coach Yeng Guiao also had a lot of bodies at his disposal for the tuneup game, bannered by Ginebra's fantastic four of Greg Slaughter, Japeth Aguilar, LA Tenorio, and Scottie Thompson, San Miguel's Arwind Santos and Marcio Lassiter, Magnolia's Paul Lee, NorthPort's Stanley Pringle, TNT's Troy Rosario, Phoenix's Matthew Wright, Blackwater's JP Erram, and cadet Ricci Rivero.
Beermen Alex Cabagnot and Christian Standhardinger, as well as 7-foot-1 prodigy Kai Sotto were in attendance but did not see action for the game.
The Rain or Shine pair of Gabe Norwood and Beau Belga, meanwhile, are out due to prior commitments.
Ian Sangalang continued to miss the national team practices due to an injured knee.
It was the Philippines' third tuneup game after meeting Jordan on Monday and Wednesday.
Team Pilipinas is gearing up for the next series of games slated on November 30 against Kazakhstan and on December 3 versus Iran, both at the Mall of Asia Arena.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
