BEIJING, China – Dead last. 

Gilas Pilipinas ended up at the cellar among 32 participating nations in the 2019 FIBA World Cup after failing to notch a single win in 5 games and accumulating the worst point differential in the entire tournament with -147 points. 

The 4th placers in the 4 classification groups wound up in the 29th to 32nd ranking, including the Philippines, which finished last in Group N.

Gilas Pilipinas had hoped that the other 4th placers – Jordan, Japan, or Senegal – would wrap up their campaign winless and amass a lower point differential to avoid the basement. 

However, everything that needed to go the Philippines’ way did not happen. 

Japan dropped a 65-80 loss to Montenegro in Group O but amassed only a -130 point differential, while Jordan hacked out a 79-77 win over Senegal for its first win to improve to 3rd place in Group P. 

Although also toting a 0-5 record, Senegal ended its World Cup journey with just a -102 point differential. 

Based on the competition system, the classification will be determined first by the win-loss record from all games, followed by the higher points difference of all games, and the higher points scored from all games. 

*1st in groups will be classified 17 – 20

*2nd in groups will be classified 21 – 24

*3rd in groups will be classified 25 – 28

*4th in groups will be classified 29 – 32

Crashing to the basement is a major setback for Gilas Pilipinas, which failed to improve from its  showing in the previous edition where the Nationals ranked 21st out of the 24 countries during the 2014 World Cup. 

It could also affect where the Philippines – currently No. 31 in the world – will land in the latest FIBA rankings that will be released after the World Cup. – Rappler.com