GILAS Pilipinas stepped on the gas in the second half to beat Saudi Arabia, 76-63, for a two-game sweep of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers fifth window on the road early Monday morning (Manila time) in Jeddah.
The Filipinos had a rough start to the game at the King Abdullah Sports City Hall as they engaged the host in a physical, low-scoring first half.
But they finally got loose beginning the third period behind the outside snippings of guard Roger Pogoy, the court savvy of Dwight Ramos, and the rebounding prowess of playmaker Scottie Thompson and big man Kai Sotto.
Seven straight points to begin the second half stretched a five-point Philippine lead at the break to a sizeable 38-25 advantage before Pogoy caught fire from three-point range.
The TNT guard hit back-to-back baskets from deep that gave Gilas its largest lead of the game, 50-34.
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Pogoy went 3-of-7 from three-point range to finish with 13 points and share scoring honors with Ramos.
The win, a repeat of their 84-46 rout of the same team last August, completed a back-to-back win by the Filipinos of their November window games in the Middle East and improve to a third running 5-3 record in Group E.
They earlier drubbed Jordan, 74-66, in the capital city of Amman last Friday.
"We knew it was going to be a tough game. We have high respect for Saudi Arabia. Obviously, we're very happy with the result," said Philippine team head coach Chot Reyes in the post-game presser.
Kai Sotto also had a big game for the Philippines with 11 points, nine rebounds, and five block shots in a performance highlighted by the play of the game that had him completing an emphatic two-handed alley-oop dunk off a long pass by Thompson for a 65-53 lead halfway through in the final quarter.
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The Thompson to Sotto play brought the house down, sending in frenzy the hordes of Filipinos based in the Middle East who showed up and cheered the national team.
CJ Perez added 10 points, while Thompson almost ended up with a double-double after finishing with nine points, nine rebounds, three assists, and two steals.
Mathna Almarwani shot 5-of-10 from deep to finish with 19 points in leading Saudi Arabia, which is now handled by Dutch coach Johan Roijakkers.
Almarwani, who tried to mount the host back until the final two minutes, also had eight rebounds for the host, which likewise got 16 points from Khalid Abdel.
Gilas won't play again until February for the sixth and final window of the qualifiers when it hosts Jordan and Lebanon, respectively.
Saudi fell to a 2-6 record in Group E following the loss.
The scores:
Philippines (76) - Ramos 13, Pogoy 13, Sotto 11, Perez 10, Thompson 9, Parks 8, Aguilar 6, Kouame 5, Malonzo 1, Oftana 0, Erram 0, Quiambao 0.
Saudi Arabia (63) - Ma. Almarwani 19, Abdel Gabar 16, Mo Almarwani 8, Kadi 6, Aljohar 5, Ashoor 4, Shubayli 2, Mohammed 2, Belal 1, Saleh 0, Almuwallad 0, Albargawi 0.
Quarters: 16-16; 31-25; 55-45; 76-63.
