Gilas lost to South Korea and Iran to exit the tournament with a score of 6-2 behind Iran to bag the silver medal in the week-long games. Iran won the gold medal with a final score of 7-1.
The Philippines has won four gold medals and three bronzes in previous Jones Cup games. The 2015 silver medal is the country’s first in the the competition.
Today’s game against Chinese Taipei B was one of the easiest for Gilas, with the host country scoring poorly as Gilas dominated the game from the second quarter onward to the last quarter with the final score of 96-67.
Leading scorers for Gilas were Gary David with 22 points. Jayson Castro had 15 points while Moala Tautuaa and Ranidel de Ocampo made 12 and 10 points respectively.
Terence Romeo, whose superb performance in the early games has inspired the team as well as Coach Tab Baldwin., failed to please his new-found fans of the host country as he could only watch his team from the bench due to injury.
“Terrence is not a fluke. He can play the way he played tonight. It’s truly his craft. He’s professional about his craft, and he deserves a lot of respect and admiration,” said Baldwin, who gave the country its first silver medal in the Jones Cup competition.
Following the grueling Jones Cup games, the Gilas team will return home for a brief rest as they prepare for FIBA Asia Championship from September 23 to October 3 in Changsha, China.
But before flying to China for the FIBA games, the team will face the Taiwan national team and New Zealand’s Wellington Saints in Manila for the MVP Cup which will take place on Sept. 11-13.
