Courtesy: FIBA
Kai Sotto turned up the heat on a rainy Friday night in his much-anticipated comeback as Gilas Pilipinas didn’t disappoint Filipino fans who trooped to the SM Mall of Asia Arena despite Habagat (monsoon rains) after overhauling an 18-point deficit into a nail-biting 82-81 overtime victory over Jordan in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.
The 7-foot-3 center not only returned with a double-double of 18 points and 14 rebounds but also made the biggest defensive stop of the game with a thundering block on Abdullah Olajuwon’s potential game-winner at the buzzer.
Sotto’s heroics helped the Philippines snap a four-game skid and revive its World Cup chances with an improved 3-4 record in Pool E.
“Hindi namin pwede balewalain bawat possession,” said Sotto, who played his first FIBA game in more than a year following a long ACL injury recovery. “It means everything. Sobrang blessed ko na makabali ako dito sa national team.”
Playing without naturalized player Justin Brownlee, Gilas heavily relied on Sotto, who gave the home team a 79-78 lead before Kevin Quiambao drained a cold-blooded three-pointer for an 82-79 edge in the final 13 seconds.
CJ Perez came off the bench and engineered Gilas’ surge in the second half including his layup with 45 seconds left in regulation for a 72-72 count that eventually saved the day for the nationals.
His foul on Freddy Ibrahim in the last nine seconds of OT, however, put Gilas into some tense moments as the deadly Jordanian shooter completed his free throws to cut their deficit to one, 81-82.
The Philippines faced an almost disaster after Scottie Thompson was caught for a five-second violation in the next possession before Sotto came to the rescue.
Perez finished with 16 points while Quiambao and Dwight Ramos added 14 markers apiece.
“I just did my thing, attacking my baskets,” said Perez, who also forced Jordan into an eight-second violation with under a minute to play that ignited Gilas’ awakening in the endgame. “Nakatulong doon yung depensa namin.”
Ibrahim nailed four three-pointers to finish with 22 points, former NBA player Jalen Harris also had four from the three-point land for 19-point output, while NBA legend Hakeem Olajuwon’s son Abdullah added 17 points, but all those went for naught as Jordan fell to a 5-2 slate.
Gilas will seek back-to-back wins against Iran while Jordan will look to bounce back against unbeaten Australia on Sunday, August 30 at the same Pasay venue.
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