Gilas Down By 7 To Syria At Halftime, 34-41!

After 20 minutes of furious basketball action, the Philippines fins themselves at the wrong end of a 34-41 score.

The Nationals struggled from the field, led by Japhet Aguilar's 1-5 and Marcus Douthit's 2-6. Chris Tiu is 0-3 while JV Casio provides the lone bright spot for Gilas, shooting 5-8 from the field and 3-4 from three points.

Al Jala'a import and former Laker Samaki Walker scored 16 points in the first half, eclipsing his previous tournament high for the entire game of 11, while import Michael Madanly scored 14 points.

The Syrians led by just 2 points at the end of the first quarter but rattled off 13 quick points before the Nationals could react. Gilas has played catch-up basketball since then, pruning down a 15 point lead to just 7 by the half.  

In the second half, the Nationals will have to step it up on defense if they want to avoid getting railroaded by Walker and Madanly.

Gilas Takes On Al-Jala'a for Ssemis Seat!

One win is all that stands between Smart Gilas and its highest finish yet in the FIBA-Asia Champions Cup in more than a decade.

Gilas emerged as the top seed in Group A after sweeping the group, beating Saudi Arabia's Al Ittihad, Malaysia's KL Dragons, Iraq's Duhok and finally Jordan's ASU.