Gilas Pilipinas's dreams of advancing to the second round of FIBA World Cup 2023 all but vanished after absorbing a numbing 80-70 loss to Angola on Sunday.
The Angolans erased an early 11-point deficit before taking full control in the second half and led by as much as 16 points in the fourth quarter. Gilas rallied and cut the lead down to five and briefly gave hope to the home crowd of over 12,000 fans.
But Angola held on and are now tied with Italy -- who lost to Dominican Republic earlier in the day -- for second place in Group A with a record of 1-1. Jordan Clarkson led Gilas with 21 points but shot just 7-of-22.
While Gilas isn't mathematically eliminated, they will need many things to go their way to advance. The Philippines will need to beat Italy on Tuesday and hope Dominican Republic beats Angola to set up a three-way tie at 1-2.
After a close loss to the Dominican Republic two nights earlier, there was a belief that Gilas could handle Angola, which lost to Italy by 14. Early on, it was looking as if it would happen, as RR Pogoy and AJ Edu combined to put Gilas up 28-17.
But Angola responded with an 11-0 run and took control from that point on as NBA center Bruno Fernando threw his weight around.
"We got hammered on the boards," Gilas coach Chot Reyes said. "We gave up 20 offensive rebounds to the other team and in the end that was the story. We took care of the ball better tonight, but we just couldn't make shots. Eighteen percent from 3-points is just not gonna get it done.
Angola's shooters kept hitting critical 3-pointers despite an overall poor shooting performance by the team.
"They didn't shoot too well as well, they only shot 29% from the 3-point area but they made killer blows when it mattered," Reyes said.
The last one by Gerson Domingos proved to be the back-breaker, a corner triple just as the shot clock expired that gave Angola a 76-68 lead and let the air out of the building.
"We let one slip," said guard Kiefer Ravena, who was inserted at the start of the third quarter after sitting out the first half to try and contain Angola's speedy 5-foot-6 point guard Childe Dundao. "It's really tough to compete. If you're down seven, eight points with two minutes to go, it's really tough. At the end of the day, we gave ourselves a shot at coming back, especially with Rhenz (Abando) coming off the bench and giving us a lot of energy. But we came up short."
Foiled again by Angola
After the game had ended, a small but boisterous group of Angolans made their way out of the bleachers of the Smart Araneta Coliseum waving flags and chanting their country's name as if they had just won the championship.
It was a huge moment for the country and its basketball program, as it took a significant step towards qualifying for the Olympics.
"I think it's important to understand that in Africa, all these five teams here, it's not easy to reach the world championships, and even the Olympics, it's very difficult," said coach Pep Claros Canals after his team became the first from Africa to book a win in this World Cup. "So if today we lose, we know that we are out of the Olympics. Imagine if we lose today, they don't play in the Olympics until Los Angeles in 2028. So this game was very, very important."
For Gilas, the game presented motivation for payback after the 2019 team also lost to Angola in overtime. Several players from that team were in attendance.
"We have three or four players from that team of 2019 (on the 2023 team) and some of the players were watching today," said Ravena, himself a member of both teams. "We really wanted to get one back for them. That was part of the motivation."
Tall order against Italy
All is not lost for Gilas, although the odds of advancing to the second round are longer than Kai Sotto's wingspan. Their final group opponent, Italy, is also now in a must-win situation after their defeat to the Dominican Republic.
Ravena said the team has to quickly put this loss behind them.
"We have to focus on the present and prepare for Italy. We can't be emotional at this time when we have one more game left to focus on."
Gilas also still has a chance to qualify for the Olympics, although their chances took a blow after co-host Japan pulled off a 98-88 stunner against Finland to become the first Asian team to score a win.
"We just have to focus on the next game," Reyes said. "The objective is to get to the Olympics. No matter how flickering that hope is, it's still alive. We just have to keep our heads up and find a way to play our best on Tuesday."