Gilas Pilipinas advances to FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament semis despite narrow loss to Georgia

Gilas Pilipinas will still advance to the semifinals of the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament despite a narrow 96-94 loss against Georgia on Thursday in Latvia.

The Philippines needed to win against world no. 23 Georgia or lose by 18 points or less to advance to the semifinals.

Georgia opened the game with a 16-0 opening before Justin Brownlee put Gilas on the board with a triple. While Georgia saw its lead balloon to 20, 40-20, early in the second quarter, Gilas eventually found its rhythm and ended the first half trailing, 55-43, despite Kai Sotto going down in the said frame.

The second half, however, saw a different story.

The grind continued for the nationals in the second half as they finally claimed the lead, 71-70, with less than two minutes left in the third period after Dwight Ramos sank his free throws off a Giorgi Ochkhikidze foul. With the nationals outscoring Georgia, 31-19, the third period ended in a 74-74 knot.

Gilas was leading, 94-93, with 33 seconds left in the final frame, but free throws by Goga Bitadze off a Ramos foul put Georgia in front at 96, and eventually sealed the deal despite Chris Newsome's split.

Brownlee powered the Philippines with 28 points, eight rebounds, eight assists, and a steal, while Ramos had 16 points in the loss.

Alexander Mamukelashvili had 26 points, while Bitadze had 21 points in the Georgia win.

Prior to the game, Gilas opened its campaign in the Olympic qualifiers with a historic win against Latvia, 89-80.

Latvia, the top team of Group A, will join Gilas in the semifinals. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News