Australia deals Gilas Pilipinas its second straight loss in a FIBA tune-up tourney

After a tremendous showing against France in their opening game of the Bleu Blanc Tour, Gilas Pilipinas fell flat in their second outing, losing to Australia 97-75.

The Filipinos kept in step with the much stronger Australian squad in the first half of the game. However, the boys from Down Under were finally able to build a double-digit lead in the third canto.

The Australians then doubled the energy on the defensive end as they limited Gilas to only 12 points in the final quarter while scoring 24 to turn what was a tightly contested game into a blowout.

Andray Blatche once again led the Philippines with a double-double, scoring 20 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Jayson Castro scored 12 points in 50% shooting from the field even if he only played for 16 minutes in the contest.

Gilas snipers Jeff Chan and Gary David combined for 21 points on a combined 5 of 10 from the three-point area.

Aside from Blatche, Gilas was not able to get a lot of contributions from their frontcourt as Marc Pingris, Ranidel De Ocampo, Japeth Aguilar, June Mar Fajardo, and Beau Belga combined only for a total of seven points and 11 rebounds.

Australia featured a balanced attack on offense as they have five players who scored 10 or more led by San Antonio Spurs power forward Aron Baynes with 15 points. Ryan Broekhoff added 14, while Brad Newley and Mattew Dellavedova added 13 each. Dante Exum, the no. 5 overall pick in this year’s NBA Draft, added 8 points and 6 assists.

Already down by 10 heading into the final period, Gilas was not able to stop the Australians’ scoring run. They opened the quarter with a 15-5 run capped by a Baynes basket for an 88-68 tally at the 4:49 mark to deal the Filipinos their second straight loss in the four-nation pocket tournament serving as a tune-up for the FIBA World Cup.

Gilas next takes on Ukraine on Sunday.

The scores:

Australia 97: Baynes 15, Broekhoff 14, Newley 13, Dellavedova 13, Jawai 10, Exum 8, Gibson 7, Motum 7, Goulding 6, Bairstow 4, Ingles 0

Philippines 75: Blatche 20, Castro 12, Chan 11, David 10, Dillinger 8, De Ocampo 4, Norwood 3, Alapag 2, Tenorio 2, Aguilar 2, Fajardo 1, Lee 0, Pingris 0, Belga 0.

Quarters: 20-17, 47-42, 73-63, 97-75.