Gilas Defeats Jordan On The Road With Scottie Thompson

It was finally Scottie Thompson’s time to shine in the Gilas spotlight.

Gilas Pilipinas cruised to an impressive 74-66 victory away from home against higher-ranked Jordan in the FIBA World Cup 2023 Asian Qualifiers on Friday (Manila time) at Prince Hamzah Hall in Amman thanks to the reigning Most Valuable Player of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA MVP). The game took place in Group E of the tournament.

Thompson, who has been Gilas’ driving force throughout the game, came close to recording a triple-double by collecting 12 rebounds, scoring eight points, and giving out eight assists. In addition to this, he finished with a plus-10 rating, which was the first time he has ever finished a game with a positive rating while wearing a Pilipinas jersey.

However, it was not just Ginebra’s outward appearance that contributed to their success.

Gilas was led by Gilas’ rock, Kai Sotto, who tallied 17 points and seven rebounds in the game.

In the meantime, Bobby Ray Parks was the one to provide the early spark by scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first half of the game. CJ Perez then finished the game with 11 points and five assists, picking up where Parks left off earlier in the game.

In addition to racking up points on the scoreboard, Gilas’s defense was the primary factor in shaking up the home team, particularly in the third quarter.

Gilas embarked on a run and gained a lead of 53-45 in the early goings of the third canto of the game after the score was level at 43 all.

Gilas locked down during that period, holding Jordan to only 10 points on 4-of-17 shooting from the field. This resulted in a zoned-in defense.

After then, Gilas would go on to extend their lead to a maximum of 14 points, reaching 71-57 with 4:18 remaining in the match.

“Well, we knew it was going to be a tough game; we have a lot of respect for the Jordan basketball team, and we expected them to give us a challenge. In the past, we have had numerous encounters with them, including with the coach. “It goes without saying that we are quite pleased with how things turned out,” said Chot Reyes, the head coach of the Gilas squad.

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