SUMMARY
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Thirdy Ravena finally had his time to shine in the King Abdullah Cup in Jordan as his late free throw helped Gilas Pilipinas escape Tunisia in a 74-73 overtime thriller on Thursday, July 29 (Friday, July 30, Manila time).
After Ravena split his two charities with nine seconds left, his former Ateneo co-star Ange Kouame then put the finishing touches with a game-winning block on Achref Gannouni with just three seconds remaining.
Kouame finished with an all-around line of 12 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 5 blocks, all team-highs, while Ravena chipped in 7 markers, 3 boards, and 2 dimes.
Dwight Ramos likewise continued his all-around play and finished with 11 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 swats, and a steal as Isaac Go sparked the bench with 8 points, and a game-best +18 differential.
The game was a back-and-forth war from start to finish, with Tunisia moving ahead into the fourth quarter up by 4 points, 53-49, after a last-minute 7-0 run.
The Tunisians even peaked with an eight-point lead at the 6:30 mark of the payoff period, 59-51, before Gilas responded with a key 9-2 attack capped by a Kouame layup at the two-minute mark to inch within one point, 60-61.
Gannouni pushed the Tunisia lead up to three, 66-63, off a layup with less than a minute left in regulation, but Rey Suerte drilled a clutch tying trey off an SJ Belangel handoff with 37 ticks left to ultimately force overtime, 66-all.
Late Tunisia free throws and an Ahmed Addami layup eventually kept the score knotted up at 73-all in the extra period before Gannouni committed a costly foul that sent Ravena to the line for the winning split.
Oussama Marnaoui led all scorers with 19 points, while Gannouni powered the bench with 16 markers, albeit on a 6-of-15 clip.
After Saudi Arabia’s loss to Egypt earlier in the day that eliminated them from contention, the other four teams in the five-country, week-long tournament have officially clinched a quarterfinal berth.
Gilas and host country Jordan will wrap up the elimination round at midnight on Saturday, July 31, Manila time, and formalize the quarterfinal seeds.
The Scores
Philippines 74 – Kouame 12, Ramos 11, Belangel 10, Go 8, Ravena 7, Ma. Nieto 7, Baltazar 5, Tamayo 5, Suerte 5, Heading 3, Navarro 1, Ildefonso 0, Chiu 0.
Tunisia 73 – Marnaoui 19, Gannouni 16, Ochi 10, Jawadi 9, Lahiani 6, Chihi 5, Bouallegue 4, Yahia 2, Addami 2.
Quarters: 15-14, 36-31, 49-53, 66-66, 74-73.
– Rappler.com
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