Gilas finishes 7th in FIBA Asia Cup as title drought continues

August 19 ------ GILAS Pilipinas finished in seventh place to end its campaign in the 31st FIBA Asia Cup. The Filipinos posted a 2-3 (win-loss) record in the continental tournament in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, their title bid finally going up in smoke after running through two-time defending champion Australia in the quarterfinals, 84-60.

The finish was an improvement to the ninth-place finish of the Philippines during the 2022 edition of the meet in Jakarta, Indonesia where it failed to make the quarterfinals. Still, it wasn’t enough to end the country’s 40-year title drought since last winning the championship in 1985 behind the Northern Consolidated national team.

The last time Gilas Pilipinas had a podium finish in the now quadrennial meet came in 2015 in Changsha, China, when it lost to the host team in the gold medal match. The podium finish among Iran, China, New Zealand, and two-time defending champion Australia will be determined by the end of the meet on Monday.

In the semifinals, its China vs. New Zealand and Australia against Iran. Chinese Taipei, whose 95-87 stunner of the Philippines on opening day got Gilas Pilipinas off to a wrong foot, placed no. 5 for its best finish in a decade

Source: spin.ph