MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas has its fingers crossed that Carl Tamayo did not sustain a serious injury as it seeks to end the first round of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on a winning note against India.

Losing Tamayo would be a huge blow after the UP Fighting Maroons standout showed the way for the Philippines in its 106-60 road loss to New Zealand in Auckland on Thursday, June 30.

Tamayo netted a game-high 16 points on top of 5 rebounds against the Tall Blacks before he suffered a sprained ankle in the fourth quarter.

“It is very early to assess the injury. It is a sprained ankle. It is very hard to see that in three days, he’ll be able to recover,” said head coach Nenad Vucinic as they return to the Philippines for their July 3 match against India.

“And if he does recover and puts a jersey on, he is probably not going be as effective as he would be without an injury. So other players need to be stepping up.”

Tamayo, who shot an efficient 6-of-10 from the field, lacked sufficient help as only Rhenz Abando finished as the only other Gilas Pilipinas player in double figures with 11 points.

Excluding Abando, the rest of the squad shot a lowly 25% (12-of-47).

If Tamayo gets sidelined, only 10 Filipino players will see action against the Indians on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Gilas Pilipinas started the third window with an already undermanned lineup as it brought just 11 players to New Zealand, with naturalized big man Angelo Kouame still nursing a knee injury.

“We came with three guys playing in forward positions. Now we’re down to two, so it is difficult,” said Vucinic.

“But again, we do not want excuses. We want to try to have a good game and have a chance to win on Sunday.”

The Philippines, which totes a 1-2 card in Group A, clobbered winless India (0-3) by 24 points in their first Asian Qualifiers encounter in February. – Rappler.com