Gilas rallies behind explosive Parks to beat Senegal, 75-63
RIDING on Ray Parks’ fourth-quarter barrage, Gilas Pilipinas scored a vengeful 75-63 win over Senegal in the Heyuan WUS International Basketball Tournament Sunday night in Guangdong, China.
In his most explosive outing yet, Mr. Parks dropped all of his eight points in the final canto to spark an 18-3 blast that allowed the Nationals seize control, 65-56, and eventually gain payback after their 64-72 defeat to the Lions two nights before.
Towering youngster AJ Edu showed the way among the Gilas scorers with 15 points spiked by three booming triples to go with seven rebounds.
CJ Perez shot 14 while Dwight Ramos netted 12 with eight boards and two assists and June Mar Fajardo banged in 11 to backstop the 6-foot-10 Mr. Edu, who is getting raves for his strong showing in the China tourney.
The victory jacked up Gilas’ record to 2-1 overall through three games in the double round-robin meet that also features Iran.
The Filipinos were scheduled to play the Iranians last night, eyeing a repeat of their opening 76-65 romp and a winning end to this part of the pre-WC preparations.
From China, Gilas will return to Manila to join forces with Fil-Am NBA star Jordan Clarkson in the final phase of their buildup for the Aug. 25 to Sept 10 campaign.
Mr. Clarkson boarded his flight to the Philippines yesterday out of Los Angeles.
Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes is confident the former NBA Sixth Man of the Year is ready to lead the home team against powerful Group A rivals the Dominican Republic, Angola and Italy.
“We’ve been exchanging thoughts and ideas already and okay siya (with the role he’ll play). He has accepted it. He knows what we want from him and I think he’s up to the challenge,” said Mr. Reyes. — Olmin Leyba
