Gilas Pilipinas esports falls short of podium finish in eFIBA World Finals 

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas’ esports team settled for a fourth-place finish in the eFIBA Season 2 World Finals in Jonkoping, Sweden, after falling to Turkey in the bronze medal match, 62-46, on Sunday, November 26.

eGilas is composed of the quintet of Isaiah “PHI_Ice2fast” Alindada, Clark “PHI_ZavaLCB” Banzon, Kenneth “PHI_Clue” Gutierrez, Prich “PHI_DonPriich-” Diez, and Julian “PHI_Social” Mallillin.

Despite missing out on a podium spot, the Filipinos will be bringing home a cash prize of 4,000 euros (over P240,000) from the two-day tournament, which is played using the 5v5 ProAm mode of NBA 2K24.

eGilas, coached by Nite Alparas, got off to a good start in the World Finals, blasting its Asian rival Lebanon, 75-22, in its opening assignment on Saturday.

The Philippines then suffered a 53-41 setback at the hands of Turkey in its second match, before bouncing back with a huge 52-43 win against Morocco in its final game of the group stage to set up a semifinal clash with the eventual world champion USA. 

Led by Banzon, eGilas started strong against USA in Game 1 of their best-of-three semifinal showdown, even leading the Americans by as many as 10 points late in the second quarter, 21-11. 

However, the powerhouse Americans came alive in the second half and outscored eGilas, 28-12, for a 43-33 come-from-behind triumph. 

With their backs against the wall, the Filipinos once again managed to keep in step with USA in the first 10 minutes of Game 2, but the Americans unleashed another massive 41-16 scoring barrage in the second half to complete the two-game sweep of the Philippines with a 67-33 beating.

eGilas then fell prey to Turkey again as it fell short of a podium finish. – Rappler.com