RIGA (Latvia) - Following Georgia's blowout defeat against Latvia and the Philippines' surprising upset over host nation Latvia, everything needed to be decided in the clash between the Caucasian side and Gilas for the second Semi-Finals ticket in Group A.
Aleksandar Dzikic's Georgia team needed to win by 19 points or more to advance. They seemed to have the game in their hands after a resounding start and going up by as many as 20.
However, the Philippines showed plenty of heart and passion to survive and advance. They narrowed the gap and with a 96-94 loss, they still made it to the next round.
Turning Point
Georgia approached the game the way they needed to: aggressive, focused, and determined.
An early 16-0 run to begin the encounter seemed the preview to a glorious afternoon for basketball fans back in Tbilisi. When Joe Thomasson converted from three midway beginning the second quarter for the 20-point lead (40-20), everything was at stake.
That was the deciding moment for Tim Cone's Gilas team: either they woke up, or they could would say goodbye to the Olympic dream. A 12-0 run by Gilas followed, and in the third quarter, they even got their first lead of the game at 71-70.
TCL Player of the Game
Justin "The Michael Jordan of Philippine basketball" Brownlee was on a roll in yesterday's impressive win over Latvia, going close to a triple-double with a 26-9-9 statline.
When Gilas had its back on the wall, he dragged the team to the comeback, displaying another performance for the ages to gift the Eastern Asian team a spot in the Semi-Finals.
The 36-year-old guard gave his all on the court, being named TCL Player of the Game in two consecutive days after ending with 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists shooting 10/14 from the field.
Stats don't lie
Three-pointers were the major reason why the Philippines managed to advance to the Semi-Finals. Dwight Ramos and Justin Brownlee - who combined for 8 of 15 beyond the three-point line - were only two of the most clutch scorers from deep on the team.
Collectively, Philippines shot incredibly well once again from beyond the arc, heading to the Semi-Finals with an 13 of 23 from three against the Georgians. They repeated themselves after yesterday's showdown over Latvia when they shot 9 of 20.
Bottom line
Georgia started the game fearlessly, and Coach Cone's team seemed hopeless. However, keeping on trusting their own system, they managed to come back into contention, ultimatelynot allowing Georgia to extend their stay in Latvia.
It certainly ended up being Georgia's most bitter of victories, finishing the Group with a 1-1 record, but still forced to go back to Tbilisi. Even the returning Tornike Shengelia (17 points and 7 rebounds), Goga Bitadze (21 points and 9 rebounds), and an unstoppable Sandro Mamukelashvili (26 points and 7 rebounds) were not enough.
They said
"We feel great. We battled hard. The guys fought being down 17-18 points. We still didn't lose our confidence. We're excited to be here for sure. Overall I'm just excited to be in the Semi-Finals" Philippines star baller, Justin Brownlee
"We had our tickets to leave tomorrow, I guess we're gonna have to move it back a little bit. That's how surprised we are. It's the first time I feel good about losing. It could have been an easy panic time when we were down 20, but they really showed their resilience. Kai Sotto is in the hospital checking his rib." Philippines head coach, Tim Cone
"In the end we won, that's a good thing obviously. This was mission impossible today, beating them by 19. But we opened the game very well. For the rest of the game, they scored 93 points. I think that's too much." Georgia head coach, Aleksandar Dzikic
"Guys fought hard, we got ourselves in this situation. They came ready to play, a great game. We really fought hard, but it wasn't enough. We move on. This a 40-minute game, you can't have ups and downs." Georgia baller, Goga Bitadze.
FIBA