Malonzo with his Gilas Pilipinas teammates. FIBA/SBP photo
Big win for Gilas vs Iran
EVEN without NBA star Jordan Clarkson and Kai Sotto, the Philippines had enough in its arsenal to roll back Iran, 76-65 in the Heyuan WUS International Basketball Tournament in China late Thursday.
Jamie Malonzo, Calvin Oftana, Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu and Renz Abando carried the fight for the Filipinos, who are hoping to perform well as a team in the three-team pocket tournament with only three weeks left before the FIBA World Cup 2023 in Manila and two other host countries.
Malonzo, the 6-7 Filipino-American standout of Barangay Ginebra, led the Filipinos with 11 points, and six rebounds, Oftana added 10 points while Ramos contributed 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal for the Chot Reyes-mentored Filipinos.
Edu, a 6-10 power forward-center born in Cyprus to a Nigerian father and a Filipina mother had nine points and a team-high nine rebounds. Edu capped his game-long brilliance with a dunk with 20 seconds left that sealed the win.
Abando added eight points, including a breakaway dunk to put the Filipinos ahead, 46-41, early in the third quarter.
Ahead 46-41, six-time PBA MVP June Mar Fajardo scored back-to-back baskets and assisted for a winner by Edu to give the Filipinos a 52-41 advantage
San Miguel Beer mainstay CJ Perez also struck in the third quarter as he scored all of his seven points to give the Filipinos a sizable 59-46 lead at the end of the period.
A three-point play by Oftana gave the Filipinos a sizable 69-47 lead.
The Filipinos will next meet Senegal on Friday, Aug. 4.
The scores:
Philippines (76) — Malonzo 11, Oftana 10, Ramos 10, Edu 9, Pogoy 8, Abando 8, Perez 7, Fajardo 4, Aguilar 4, Newsome 2, Parks Jr 2, K. Ravena 1, T . Ravena 0.
Iran (65) — Yazarlou 8, Azari 7, Taheri 7, Sharifi 7, Yazarlou 6, Rahimian 6, Dalirzahan 6, Mokarian 5, Alizadeh 4, Kashani 4, Khosravi 3, Far 2, Jafari 0, Arabzadeh 0.
Quarterscores: 21-23, 40-34, 59-46, 76-65.
