Gilas Pilipinas absorbs blowout loss to Lebanon in Doha

Unlike its previous game, Gilas Pilipinas just lost steam in the fourth quarter to falter against Lebanon, 75-54, in the 2nd Doha International Cup on late Saturday at the Qatar University Sports Complex in Doha, Qatar. 

The Filipinos, who were coming off a come-from-behind 74-71 win over host Qatar, scored just six points in the fourth quarter as the Lebanese side unleashed a 35-8 run bridging the third and fourth quarters en route to the 21-point victory. 

The loss sent Gilas to an even 1-1 card while Lebanon improved to 1-1 as well. 

Momentum looked like it already swung to the Philippines' side when Scottie Thompson completed a three-point play late in the third period to bring Gilas to a 46-40 lead. 

But Lebanon, who lost its opening game to Egypt with an 82-70 setback, ended the frame with an 11-2 rampage led by Karim Zeinoun and Gerard Hadidian as they regained a 51-48 cushion. 

That was pretty much what Lebanon needed to spark a rally with Jad Khalil hitting a three-pointer that capped off a 14-0 fourth quarter opening blast and sent his side to a huge 65-50 lead. They also held off Gilas Pilipinas scoreless for more than five minutes in that period before Chris Newsome split his free throws with 4:53 left in the game. 

Calvin Oftana, who joined forces with Justin Browlee in the low-scoring first half, tried to resuscitate Gilas with a long bucket for a 65-53 deficit. 

Fouls and poor shooting from the field hurt the Philippines as Zeinoun sank four consecutive fouls off back-to-back fouls from Dwight Ramos before Ali Mezher knocked down another pair of freebies to make it a 73-53 spread for Lebanon. 

Hadidian punctuated the lopsided victory by escaping three defenders and going off for a two-handed dunk. 

Hadidian and Khalil led the show for Lebanon with 18 points apiece while Zeinoun and big man Ater James Majok put together 13 and 12 markers each. 

Justin Brownlee, who had 15 points at the halftime break, only had six in the second half to finish with 21 points together with 11 rebounds and one assist while Oftana tallied 10 markers. 

Other Gilas starters struggled on the floor with Dwight Ramos only scoring five and June Mar Fajardo going 0-of-5 from the field and finishing with just two markers. Carl Tamayo, meanwhile, was held scoreless all throughout. 

As a team, Gilas committed 19 turnovers which Lebanon converted to 26 points. The Nationals also shot 30 percent from the field, shooting 21 of their 69 attempts, including an unusual 4-of-26 from beyond the arc. 

Gilas will look to close out its Doha run early Monday against Egypt before they fly back home and catch another flight to Taiwan for the third window of the 2025 FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers against Chinese Taipei. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News