A record night had Gilas Pilipinas seconds away from a victory against Croatia nationals. Croatia won 81-78 in overtime to Philippines to open the 2014 FIBA Basketball World Cup in Spain.
Andray Blatche scored 28 points and 12 rebounds while Jeff Chan tallied 17.
Gilas Pilipinas was down by as much as 15 points in the first period and ended it with 14 points deficit, but they fought back starting in the second quarter, ending the first half in a 7-point swing that cut Croatia’s lead to 6, 37-31.
The game remained close throughout the third period with both teams going on the short runs. Croatia finished the third quarter with an eight-point lead.
In the fourth quarter, Gilas Pilipinas were able to fight back with an 8-0 spurt, thanks to a pair of treys from Chan and Blatche.
With 36 seconds left, Jayson Castro tied the game at 71 with a runner in the lane to send the game to an overtime.
With 2:03 left in overtime, Andray Blatche gave the Philippines a 75-73 lead after two free throws, but Croatia would take the lead for good after Bojan Bogdanovic went 2/2 on the foul line with 41.7 seconds left on the clock giving Croatia a 77-75 advantage.
With 6.8 ticks remaining in the game, Gilas Pilipinas fouled Damjan Rudez, who made both free throws for a 81-78 Croatia lead
SCORES
Croatia ended the game with only missed free throws from naturalized player Oliver Lafayette.
CRO (81) – Bogdanovic 26, Simon 12, Saric 10, Tomic 8, Ukic 5, Markota 5, Rudez 4, Lafayette 4, Zoric 4, Babic 3
PHI (78) – Blatche 28, Chan 17, Pingris 10, Castro (William) 6, De Ocampo 5, Alapag 4, Tenorio 2, Norwood 2, Fajardo 2, Lee (Dalistan) 2, Aguilar 0
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