South Sudan thwarts Gilas in FIBA classification; Japan ends PHL's 'Best Asian Team' hopes

South Sudan saw a huge early lead whittled down by a furious Gilas Pilipinas second-half comeback, but made the plays right in time to win, 87-68, and claim a crucial win in the classification round of the 2023 FIBA Basketball World Cup on Thursday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.

The Gilas loss ended the country's hopes of direct qualification to the 2024 Paris Olympics as Japan beat Venezuela earlier in the day to clinch its second win in the tournament and move out of the Philippines' reach in the race for Best Asian Team.

South Sudan's naturalized player Carlik Jones came close to a historic triple-double as he tallied game-highs of 17 points and 14 assists, but only nine rebounds.

Nuni Omot and Majok Deng provided the support as they chalked up 13 markers each, with the latter also grabbing seven rebounds.

Overall, South Sudan shot a respectable 12-for-33 (36-percent) from three, and 13-for-15 (87-percent) from the charity stripe to notch its second win during their maiden World Cup appearance.

Jordan Clarkson entered the 20-point column yet again for Gilas, scoring 24 points to go along with four rebounds and three assists. He also shot 4-for-10 (40-percent) from beyond the arc.

Dwight Ramos scored his personal tournament-best with 20 points alongisde 12 rebounds while AJ Edu also had a double-double with 12 makers and 14 rebounds.

The Philippines fell behind early as South Sudan dominated the first quarter, 34-17. The hosts put up a better fight in the second period, but still trailed by as many as 21 points, before a late three from Clarkson made it just an 18-point game, 51-33, in favor of the African squad at the break.

But the Filipinos came out energized for the third quarter with Ramos scoring all of Gilas’ points in an 8-0 run that cut it down to 10, 51-41. They managed to trade with the South Sudanese the rest of the period, outscoring the guests, 17-9, to go into the final period down, 60-50.

Cheered on by the Filipino faithful, Gilas made another run to start the fourth, scoring six unanswered points punctuated by an Edu alley-oop pass to Kai Sotto that made it a four-point game, 60-56.

South Sudan, though, responded with their own 10-0 run, featuring a triple and three free throws from Omot to raise the lead back up to 16, 77-61. Led by Jones, the NBA G League MVP, the South Sudanese outscored the Filipinos, 23-9, in the final six minutes of the contest to pull away.

Aside from the defeat, Gilas was not helped by the performances of the other Asian teams in the classification round.

Japan, which entered the classification round at an advantage as they carried over a 1-2 record from the first group phase, improved to 2-2 to remain in the driver's seat for the Olympic berth to be awarded to the best continental team.

China and Lebanon also picked up wins to stay in the race at 1-3.

Gilas, at 0-4, will finish behind Japan, though, regardless of the result of their final game. That eliminated them from the Best in Asia race, though they could still earn a spot in the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament on the final day of classification.

The Philippines will play their last game in the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Saturday, September 2, against Asian rival China.

The scores:

South Sudan 87 - Jones 17, Deng 13, Omot 13, Shayok 12, Gabriel 11, Kacuol 8, Kuany 8, Acuoth 3, Dech 2, Maluach 0.

Gilas Pilipinas 68 - Clarkson 24, Ramos 20, Edu 12, Sotto 8, Malonzo 4, Abando 0, Aguilar 0, Fajardo 0, Perez 0, Pogoy 0, Ravena 0, Thompson 0.

Quarters: 34-17, 51-33, 60-50, 87-68.

—Juris Salvanera/JMB, GMA Integrated News