Highlights of Gilas vs Japan.

Jayson Castro, Dondon Hontiveros, and Andray Blatche star for Gilas while Makoto Hiejima carried Team Hayabusa on his back.

Gilas Wins Over Japan, Goes To The Finals.

Photo courtesy of FIBA.com

Gilas set their date with destiny tomorrow, as they outlasted Team Japan 81-70, and booked a seat opposite host China for the right to call themselves the best team in Asia as well as the lone ticket to the Rio Olympics.

Japan gave us a hard time once again, sticking with us until the end of the third quarter, when the score was still tied 54-all. It took the sniping of veterans Dondon Hontiveros, Ranidel de Ocampo and the stellar overall play of Jayson Castro and Andray Blatche for Gilas to finally put the game out of reach.

Here are the four difference makers for Gilas in their victory over Japan:

Defense on Makoto Hiejima – Hiejima was a revelation in this game, scoring 22 points in the first half alone. That’s an amazing feat, considering Hiejima was averaging 14 points per game. Then, in the second half, Dondon Hontiveros, Gabe Norwood, and Calvin Abueva took turns making Hiejima sweat blood for his points.  All that running around to get free from those three finally took its toll on Hiejima, who scored just 6 points in the second half and, in one sequence, couldn’t get back into Japan’s own half of the court, forcing one of his teammates to fould Castro just to avoid a 5-on-4 situation. On a side note, Norwood also turned in some brilliant defense in the last minute, getting 2 late steals to seal the game.

Gilas vs Japan Highlights!

Great game from Gilas!

Gilas Wns Over Japan, 83-76!

And just like that, the Philippines has an inside track on a semifinals berth.

Taking on the undefeated Japanese team seemed to be a daunting task. After all, Gilas went up against the Japanese Team B in the Jones Cup and barely won.

Gilas In Semifinals!

They had to win. So they did. But not before Japan's Team B scared the living daylights out of them.

Kai Juro Matsui went 8-8 from threepoint land en route to 27 points for Japan. The red hot Matsui simply would not be denied, despite the frenetic defense put up by Chris Lutz, Marcio Lassiter and even Japeth Aguilar. Matsui went 6-6 in the first half before slowing down  in the second half.