MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas finished its campaign in a tri-nation pocket tournament winless after falling short to Finland, 89-85, in their second tune-up game ahead of the FIBA World Cup early Thursday (Philippine Time) at the Kalevi Sports Hall in Tallinn, Estonia.
A slow start doomed Gilas anew as Finland showed why it is 16 places above them in the FIBA rankings despite fielding mainly its second team in the friendly game after recovering from an early second-quarter collapse.
Gilas found itself in early trouble as Finland raced to a 26-11 lead at the end of the first quarter, but they opened the second with a 20-5 run to tie the game at 31-all midway through the period.
The Finnish squad regained its poise later in the second and kept Gilas at bay from there.
Scottie Thompson, making a return after sitting out Gilas' loss to Estonia due to back spasms, made back-to-back triples, but it was already too late for the Filipinos to close out their Finnish foes.
Miro Little led Finland with 19 points, five rebounds, two assists, and four steals, while Jacob Grandison added 18 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, one steal, and one block.
Dwight Ramos put up 15 points, three rebounds, one steal, and two blocks for Gilas, while Rhenz Abando and Thirdy Ravena each tallied eight points on similar 3-for-3 field goal clips off the bench. (PNA)
