Gilas Pilipinas falls short in friendly game vs Turkey
Gilas Pilipinas hung tough against a tall and hot-shooting Turkey side before dropping an 84-73 decision in their tuneup game early Friday morning (Philippine time) in Istanbul.
Trailing by as many as 10 points in the final period, naturalized player Justin Brownlee sealed a searing 11-2 run with a three-pointer to push Gilas Pilipinas to within 66-68.
But Turkey, ranked 24th in the world, just proved too much in the final minutes when it uncorked a 16-7 windup to outlast a fighting Philippine team.
The Filipinos, who are using the first of two friendly matches in Europe as part of their FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament buildup, struggled from the three-point zone after making just 5-of-17 overall.
That's in sharp contrast to the host squad which knocked down 14 triples in a massive shooting display to bring down Gilas Pilipinas.
Brownlee led Gilas with 21 points, but characterized the shooting struggles of the Philippine team in the three-point arc after making just 1-of-7.
Seven-time PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo churned out a double-double of 17 markers and 10 boards despite battling Turkey's big frontline.
Young Bosnian-Turkish gunner Tarik Biberovic led Turkey with 23 points as he laced his hot-shooting effort with five triples.
The 37th ranked Philippines closes its two-game friendly against Poland, ranked 15th in the world, on Saturday at midnight (Manila time).
The Philippines will face world No. 6 Latvia in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament at Arena Riga on July 4, followed by No. 23 Georgia on July 5.