GILAS Pilipinas was outplayed by South Korea, 81-55, on Friday night in the first game of the Hana Bank Invitational in Suwon, part of their preparations for the 20th Asian Games.
The Philippine side played catch up for majority of the game against the Korean squad also fresh from their stint in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
Three straight threes from Junghyun Lee to start the fourth enabled the home squad to pull away after Gilas Pilipinas came to within 57-46.
Gilas Pilipinas will look to bounce back as it plays a return match against South Korea on Sunday to close the tune-up series before heading to Aichi-Nagoya, Japan for the Asiad.
Justine Baltazar was one of the players that had a respectable showing as the Gilas Asiad squad lost their second game in their tune-up games following their defeat against the Gilas FIBA Basketball World Cup Asian Qualifiers squad in Manila.
The Gilas Asiad team beat their FIBA counterparts to begin their build-up for the Asiad.
Lee had 27 points and fired seven threes in Korea's blowout win over Gilas Pilipinas.
Baltazar was the top performer for Gilas Pilipinas in the first half with 10 points and six rebounds after the first two quarters, but the team was still down, 45-33, at the break.
In the second half, the closest Gilas got was at 47-38 in the third and 57-46 in the fourth but Lee nailed threes afterwards in both occasions to arrest a comeback try by the Philippines.
Baltazar wound up with 15 points, 10 rebounds, and three steals after the game, followed by Adrian Nocum with 10 points and four rebounds.
Robert Bolick, however, struggled in the game with only two points on 1-of-8 from the field.
The scores:
South Korea 81 – Lee J.H. 27, Lee W.S. 10, Yeo J.S. 8, Moon Y.H. 8, Daniel 7, Lee H.J. 6, Lee S.H. 6, Byeon J.H. 3, An Y.J. 3, Jang J.S. 3.
Philippines 55 – Baltazar 15, Nocum 10, Ganuelas-Rosser 7, Arana 6, Trollano 5, Ahanmisi 5, Lucero 3, Bolick 2, Barefield 2, Abarrientos 0, Bates 0.
Quarters: 24-18; 45-33; 57-44; 81-55.
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