HANGZHOU - Gilas Pilipinas will now take an unfortunate reroute to the quarterfinals of 19th Asian Games men's basketball competitions.
The national team was denied a sweep in Group C by Jordan and Rondae Hollis Jefferson in the form of an 87-62 rout, relegating the Filipinos to the classification for quarterfinals on Saturday night at the Zijingang gymnasium.
The loss was the first for Gilas in three outing in the group, where Jordan emerged as the top seed with a 3-0 record for an outright spot in the quarterfinals.
The Filipinos were still very much in the game near the end of the third period when they tied the game at 52-52 after clawing back from a 13-point deficit in the first half.
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But Fadi Mustafa and do-it-all Rondae Hollis-Jefferson took charge and instigated a 13-0 blast bridging the third and fourth periods to give Jordan a 65-52 lead from which Gilas never recovered.
Hollis-Jefferson finished with 24 points, six rebounds, and nine assists as he more than held his own against PBA rival Justin Brownlee.
Mustafa had 17 points on 3-of-7 shooting from beyond the arc, Sami Bzai with 12, and the pair of John Bohannon and veteran Armand Al Dwairi with 10 each were the other doouble-digit scorers for Jordan.
Brownlee finished with 24 points to show the way for the Philippines, which got a double-double from Scottie Thompson with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
The scores:
Jordan (87) - Hollis-Jefferson 24, Mustafa 17, Bzai 12, Bohannon 10, Al Dwairi 10, Hussein 7, Alhamarshen 5, Alhendi 2.
Philippines (62) - Brownlee 24, Thompson 11, Aguilar 8, Fajardo 8, Perez 5, Kouame 4, Lassiter 2, Newsome 0, Tolentino 0, Ross 0, Oftana 0.
Quarterscores: 16-13; 42-29; 59-52; 87-62.
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