GILAS Pilipinas departs for Hangzhou, China on Saturday revved up by an 86-81 win over the Korean ball club Changwon LG Sakers in a friendly at the PhilSports Arena Friday.
Justin Brownlee, June Mar Fajardo and Calvin Oftana led the Gilas juggernaut against one of the leading KBL teams, and the Nationals are now looking to build up on this win as they set out for wars in the Asian Games.
Team Phl starts its Asiad journey with matches against Bahrain, Thailand and Jordan in group play, hoping to advance all the way to the farthest destination they can get to in the regional meet.
For coach Tim Cone, the target is nothing less than the mountaintop.
Against the import-reinforced Sakers, the Nationals showed a glimpse of what they can churn out in the Hangzhou joust.
Sponsored content:
From a few days of practices, Brownlee and his teammates carried themselves good enough to set the pace most of the way en route to the five-point decision.
The Nationals sat on a 47-39 cushion at the half on an offense led by Brownlee and Fajardo with 10 points apiece, then banked on the outside snippings of Brownlee, Oftana and Arvin Tolentino to eventually break free from a tight duel.
Tolentino fired a trey to shatter a 70-all deadlock then Brownlee had his own three-pointer to ignite the Gilas mop-up operation versus the Changwon side bannered by former NBA player Dante Cunningham.
Cone opted to field replacements Tolentino, Kevin Alas, Chris Ross and CJ Perez while still awaiting words on the final status of his original choices Terrence Romeo, Calvin Abueva, Simon Perkins and Moala Tautuaa.
Romeo, Perkins and Tautuaa watched the friendly on the gallery.(SB)
