GILAS Pilipinas held off Chinese Taipei, 90-83, to remain unscathed in the 2019 Fiba World Cup Asian qualifiers yesterday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Bombs finally dropped for the Philippines in the fourth quarter as Matthew Wright and Cebuano Roger Pogoy found their marks late while Jayson Castro carried the team anew in the endgame.
After trailing by as many as 14 in the first half, the Nationals recovered and logged their biggest lead of 10, 86-76, late in the fourth after Wright, Pogoy hit threes and Castro made important freebies to seal the game.
Jayson Castro led the Gilas with 20 points, four rebounds and four assists.
Gilas Pilipinas, which recovered from a poor start, takes on reigning Fiba Asia champion Australia on Feb. 22 in the second leg of the Asian qualifiers before hosting Japan again on Feb. 25.
The Gilas Pilipinas beat Japan last Friday, 77-71, in a game held at the Komazawa Olympic Park General Sports Ground Gymnasium in Tokyo.