By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter

WHILE it fought relatively on a better footing than its tournament debut, Gilas Pilipinas still could not go over the hump and fell to its second straight defeat in the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup, losing to world number four Serbia, 126-67, in Group D action on Monday at the Foshan International Sports & Cultural Arena in China.

Came out with more energy and purpose than their opener against Italy on Aug. 31, where they were walloped by 46 points, 108-62, the nationals competed against the Serbians only to fall anew and drop to a 0-2 record in their grouping.

The Philippines battled early in the contest, with Paul Lee finding his mark.

Gilas was on top, 9-7, at the 5:39 mark of the opening frame before National Basketball Association All-Star Nikola Jokic led the Serbian team to a 14-2 run in the next three minutes to build a 10-point lead, 21-11.

Serbia further built on it the rest of the way to take a 28-13 advantage after the first 10 minutes.

In the second quarter, Serbia continued pounding Gilas but the latter kept showing fight with CJ Perez and Robert Bolick countering.

The Philippines was still within striking distance of 11 points, 39-28, with six minutes to go.

But Serbia picked up its game on both ends after, outsprinting Gilas, 33-5, to take a 62-35 advantage at the half.

With firm control of the match, the Serbians went for the kill in the third quarter.

Hitting from all cylinders, Serbia channelled the unstoppable, stretching its lead to 50 points, 96-46, with 1:24 left in the frame.

The count was at 99-48 heading into the final canto.

With the outcome of the match already a foregone conclusion at the beginning of the fourth quarter, Gilas tried to gain some real estate to build on moving forward.

The closest it would get though is 46 points, 106-60, with 4:52 left before Serbia cranked it up some more en route to the victory.

NBA player Nemanja Bjelica led Serbia with 20 points, going 7-of-7 from the floor, followed by Bognan Bogdanovic with 17 points.

Miroslav Raduljica had 13 points while Mr. Jokic had 11 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

For Gilas it was Mr. Perez who led with 16 points followed by Mr. Lee with 15.

Naturalized player Andray Blatche finished with just five points but had six assists before fouling out.

Next for Gilas is Angola in a battle of winless Group D teams on Wednesday, Sept. 4, at 3:30 p.m.

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