Palestine stuns favored Gilas Pilipinas in Fiba Asia Championship opener

BUMMER!

What was supposed to be a walk in the park turned out to be a day one disaster for the Gilas Pilipinas as they got stunned by the upstart Palestine, 73-75, in the group stage of the 2015 Fiba Asia Men’s Championship at the CSWC Dayun in Changsha, China yesterday.

The first-time Fiba Asia competitors bucked a 16-point lead and snatched the win behind the heroics of Sani Sakanini, who completed the game-winning three-point play and Jamal Abu-Shamala, who sparked the comeback from a 59-70 fourth period deficit with his timely three-point bombs.

Abu-Shamala led all scorers with 26 points, spiked by six three-pointers – two of which came during Palestine’s decisive endgame surge – and had 15 rebounds. Sakanini fired in 22 points and 14 boards.

With an entire nation cheering them on during lunchtime, the Gilas was poised to get this campaign off to a winning start as they led, 70-59, with 6:07 remaining. But the determined Palestinians had other plans with Sakanini blistering the Filipinos with huge three-point bombs that capped a huge 13-1 run, to put his team in front, 72-71, with 1:35 left in the period.

A putback by the Gilas’ naturalized big man Andray Blatche put the national team in front but several plays later, Sakanini struck for Palestine, scoring inside while getting fouled by Cebuano Dondon Hontiveros. Palestine’s skipper made the bonus free throw to give his squad a 75-73 lead, with 18 seconds left on the clock.

The Gilas had two chances to salvage the game but Blatche’s three-point try from the corner got partially deflected while their last ditch try at a layup was foiled as well to give the Palestinians the morale-boosting victory.

“We’re embarrassed and we should be. Give Palestine credit,” head coach Tab Baldwin was quoted as saying by Inquirer.net after the match.

Blatche led the Gilas with 21 points and 12 rebounds but shot a paltry 7-of-18 from the field. Terrence Romeo added 11 but also shot poorly, missing all but four of his 13 attempts. Jayson Castro pitched in 10 for the country’s national basketball squad, who were already ahead, 27-12, after the first but suddenly lost focus and allowed Palestine to close the gap, 40-45, at halftime.

The National team seeks to bounce back today when it battles Hong Kong at 9:30 a.m.