MISFIRING GILAS PILIPINAS FALLS TO EGYPT IN FINAL DOHA CUP GAME

EGYPT’S heft, height, and outside shooting just proved too much for Gilas Pilipinas in an 86-55 loss to end the 2nd Dubai International Cup early Monday morning (Manila time).

The Pharaohs went on a huge 21-7 run in the second quarter to pull away for good from a Philippine side that kept things close in the opening frame.

Omar Tarek Oraby, the 7-foot-2 center of Egypt, hit back-to-back 3s to cap the run that put it in command at the half, 39-28.

Ehab Amin Saleh shot 4-of-8 from three-point range and finished with 20 points, Amr Zahran, the quick point guard of Egypt, had 12 points on 2-of-4 three-point shooting, while Oraby added 10 on a perfect 2-of-2 from beyond the arc to lead the 38th ranked team in the world to a three-game sweep of the three-game friendly.

Justin Brownlee again carried the load for Gilas Pilipinas with 18 points, but no other Filipino player finished in double figures that led to the country’s second straight loss before another jampacked crowd at the Qatar University Sports and Events Complex.

Gilas’ lone win came at the expense of Qatar, 74-71, on opening day.

The Filipinos tried mount a second half rally behind Brownlee and Scottie Thompson, but Egypt was just too good and too composed to let Gilas close in and energized the pro-Filipino crowd that came in droves for the third straight night to support the national team.

As expected, the Pharaohs imposed their size inside, pounding the opposition on the boards, 47-32, with center Moustafa Mohammed Elmekawi leading the charge with 10 rebounds, and heavily scored on points off the paint, 36-18.

Egypt also shot 11-of-32 from three-point range and outscored Gilas on points off turnovers, 17-8.

Carl Tamayo was the second best scorer for Gilas with nine points, most of which came however, when Egypt had the game all wrapped up, while the trio of Dwight Ramos, AJ Edu, and Thompson had six each.

Gilas is expected to return to Manila late Monday evening, rest for a few hours, and then depart for Chinese Taipei for the final leg of the FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers.

In the first game, Lebanon scored on two crucial offensive plays in the last 42 seconds to nip Qatar, 72-69.

James Majok scored on a tip-in off his own miss to finally put the Cedars on top, 70-62, before Gerard Hadadian converted a layup following a turnover by Qatar’s Ndoye Elhadj Seydou to make it a three-point game with four seconds to go.

The Cedars then clinched the win as Seydou missed on a potential game-tying 3 in the Qataris’ final play.

The win was a fitting follow up to Lebanon’s 75-54 rout of Gilas Pilipinas, allowing the team to finish the pocket tournament with a 2-1 slate. Its lone loss came against Egypt on opening day, 82-70.

The Qataris ended up without a win in three outings including a 74-71 loss to the Philippines.

  

The scores

First Game

Lebanon (72) – Hadidian 23, Zeinoun 20, Majok 12, Mezher 7, Khalil 4, Mansour 4, Rtail 2, Makhlouf 0, Moussa 0, Khoueiry 0.

Qatar (69) – Fouda 21, Grantham 20, Seydou 11, Ndao 7, Magassa 4, Saad 4, Darwish 0, Avdic 0, Abbasher 0.

Quartescores: 23-21: 38-40; 52-52; 72-69.

Second Game 

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.

Quarterscores: 18-19: 39-28; 57-45; 86-55.

2025-02-16T20:10:18Z