Gilas Pilipinas comes out sloppy, falls to Canada in Jones Cup opener

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Gilas Pilipinas played a generally sloppy game and they paid for it with a 90-77 loss to Canada to open their 2017 William Jones Cup campaign on Saturday, July 15 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Philippines struggled with execution early on and quickly succumbed to turnover after turnover amid a frantic pace that seemed to favor Canada. Gilas stayed with their opponents early on before Canada blew the game open in the second half.

Gilas ultimately gave up 22 turnovers as coach Chot Reyes searched for the right combination that would work.

“We won’t even beat an inter-barangay team playing like that,” Reyes said during one huddle, according to the broadcast.

The Canadians, represented by 3D Global Sports, weren’t particularly better off with 23 turnovers themselves.

Kiefer Ravena and Ray Parks led the scoring with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Ravena had 5 boards, 3 dimes, and 3 steals off the bench, while Parks added 5 rebounds, two assists, and 3 steals. 

Carl Bryan Cruz added 10 markers, while Matthew Wright sparked some life into the Filipinos when he heated up early in the fourth with a couple of 3-pointers to finish with 9 points.

Gilas was a miserable 7-of-22 from beyond the arc and registered only 9 assists.

There was a brief skirmish between Fil-German Christian Standhardinger and Michale Kyser when they got in each other’s faces during the third quarter. Both were assessed technical fouls.

Garrett Williamson led Canada with 15 points. Joey Haywood, Deigo Kapelan, and Kyser all had 12 points each.

Gilas next plays Chinese Taipei A on Sunday, July 16 at 7 pm.

Scores:

Canada (90): Williamson 15, Haywood 12, Kapelan 12, Kyser 12, Wood 9, Smith 9, Friesen 8, Sutherland 5, Keith 4, Morgan 2, Bachynski 2.

Philippines (77): Ravena 12, Parks 11, Cruz 10, Wright 9, Standhardinger 9, Myers 7, Jalalon 5, Paras 4, Pogoy 4, Ferrer 3, Belo 3, Jose 0.

Quarter scores: 19-20, 44-34, 66-54, 90-77. 

 – Rappler.com