Gilas blasts Qatar, sweeps elims

Vs Korea or Japan in quarters

MANILA, Philippines -  Gilas Pilipinas, all pumped up after a three-game sweep of the group elims,  faces an old rival in either Japan or South Korea in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup quarterfinals at the Noudhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Beirut Wednesday night.

The Nationals made it three-for-three in Pool B as they blew past Team Qatar, 80-74, on another splendid job at the close of the group stage last night.

With Christian Standhardinger joining June Mar Fajardo on the sidelines to rest a sore shoulder, the Filipinos played small ball but torched the Qataris nevertheless with torrid outside shooting.

Matthew Wright sizzled with 7-of-12 three-pointers and top scored with 25 points for Gilas which came through with an unblemished run in its group with earlier wins over China (96-87) and Iraq (84-68).

As one of the group stage top seeds, Team Phl automatically advanced to the Final Eight where it  fights the winner of the Korea-Japan setto tonight.

So it will either be a rematch of the Phl-Japan semifinal in 2015 or the Phl-Korea semi in 2013.

New Zealand and Australia also booked an outright Final Eight passage as the top seeds in Group C and Group D, respectively. The fourth outright quarters spot was to be disputed by Iran and Jordan late last night. Both carried 2-0 marks going to their Group A showdown.

Assured of top spot even before their game against the Qataris, the Nationals buckled down to work just the same and wowed a large raucous crowd of Filipino workers in Beirut.

Gabe Norwood collected all around numbers of 10 points, seven rebounds and five assists, and highlighted his solid game by soaring high to grab a missed jumper by Terrence Romeo then finished it with a thunderous two-handed jam to the delight of the Pinoy fans.

Trailing most of the way, the Qataris came threateningly close at 68-73 in the last 2:34 mark.

But Romeo, Gilas biggest star against China and Iraq, once again came to Team Phl’s rescue, firing a twinner from the left flank to ease the pressure.

Then Wright drained his last triple in the night to settle the outcome of the game.

 Gilas thundered to a 41-27 lead at the half largely behind a methodical game marked by an impressive 9-of-23 three-point shooting.

Wright and Carl Bryan Cruz combined for five treys and a total of 21 markers.

Cruz came off the bench and nearly outscored the entire Qatari team, 10-11, in the second quarter.