Filipinos struggle, bow to Egyptians

Gilas Pilipinas suffered a 31-point setback at the hands of Egypt, 55-86, to close its campaign in the Doha International Cup on a sour note early Monday (Manila time) at the Qatar University Sports & Events Complex in Doha.

The losing margin was the biggest for the Filipinos in this three-game friendly series that serves as their warm-up tourney for the third window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers on Thursday and Saturday.

The Egyptians, on the other hand, emerged as champion after winning all of their three matches against the Philippines, Lebanon, and the host country Qatar by an average winning margin of 24 points.

Ranked No. 38 in the world, Egypt flaunted its defensive muscles as it dominated the rebounding department, 47-32, while posting 36 points in the shaded lanes.

Ehab Amin Saleh led the way with 20 points, six rebounds, and eight assists while Zahran had 12 points for the Egyptians, who are gearing up for the FIBA AfroBasket Qualifiers against Central African Republic on Friday, Madagascar on Saturday and Ivory Coast on Monday.

The Filipinos, on the other hand, finished third after beating Qatar but losing to Lebanon and Egypt for a 1-2 win-loss card.

Still, Gilas coach Tim Cone is hardly worried.

“The whole idea is to continue to get to know each other. We have such small windows to be together that each window is absolutely crucial to our chemistry and our ability to compete at a high level together,” said Cone, who is preparing the squad against Chinese Taipei and New Zealand.

“So, all of these games are so important to us. The friendlies are going to be important for us, learning how to go on the road and beat Taiwan and New Zealand.”

Naturalized player Justin Brownlee emerged as the lone Filipino with double figures after dropping 18 points and five rebounds while Carl Tamayo had nine markers.

The scores:

EGYPT (86) — Saleh 20, Zahran 12, Aboushousha 11, Orabi 10, Taha Mohamed 8, Mahmoud 7, Abelgawad 5, Metwaly 5, Elmekawi 4, Abdellatif 2, Nasr 2, Shehata 0.

PHILIPPINES (55) — Brownlee 18, Tamayo 9, Thompson 6, Edu 6, Ramos 6, Fajardo 5, Quiambao 3, Perez 1, Newsome 1, Malonzo 0, Amos 0, Oftana 0.

QUARTERS: 18-19, 39-28, 57-45, 86-55.