Gilas Pilipinas point guard Paul Lee (Photo courtesy of FIBA.com)
MANILA -- Gilas Pilipinas Men were waylaid out of playoff contention in the FIBA World Cup after Serbia handed them a 67-126 crushing at the Foshan International Sports and Cultural Arena in Foshan, China on Monday night.
Despite a better start than how they began against Italy that even saw them taking an early lead, Gilas Men tried but could not follow up, and the taller Serbians eventually pulled away for good.
Nemanja Bjelica led seven Serbians in double figures with 20 points alongside two rebounds, one assist, and one steal as they advanced to the Round of 16 along with Italy, which romped Angola, 92-61, earlier in the day.
Bjelica needed only seven attempts, converting all of them, for his 20 markers as a total of five Serbians finished perfect from the field, including fellow National Basketball Association veterans Nikola Jokic and Boban Marjanovic.
CJ Perez came up with 16 points, three assists, and two steals for Gilas Men, who will play in a classification phase after the preliminary round.
Andray Blatche, who in a tweet on Sunday owed the Gilas Men fans a better outing after succumbing the night before, had an even worse performance, only finishing with five markers on 2-of-10 shooting and four caroms, although he too had six dimes, one block, and two steals.
Serbia and Italy will dispute the top seed in Group D on Wednesday, the same day Gilas Men will face Angola for the third seed and a morale booster entering the consolation games. (PNA)
