FIBA OQT: World No. 5 France bucks slow start to defeat Gilas Pilipinas: France registered a 93-84 victory over the Philippines in the opening day of the FIBA-Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the jampacked MOA Arena.
The French men's national basketball team proved why they are ranked fifth in the world.
Overcoming a hostile crowd, France registered a 93-84 victory over Gilas Pilipinas in the opening day of the FIBA-Olympic Qualifying Tournament at the jampacked Mall of Asia Arena on Tuesday.
Nando De Colo led France with 27 points, while his backcourt partner Tony Parker added 21 points.
"Tony Parker took the game over midway through the second quarter," Gilas head coach Tab Baldwin said.
Gilas got the headstart and led by as many as ten points during the first quarter of play but the French put the handcuffs on the home team in the second period, limiting the Philippines to just 13 points.
Baldwin said that once they lost the lead, the team "started looking for answers."
The Filipinos entered the payoff period trailing by eleven. The team took a mighty stand and trimmed the deficit to just four with over three minutes left to play, but France staged an 8-0 blast to put the game away for good.
Naturalized center Andray Blatche led the Philippines with 21 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Terrence Romeo and Jayson Castro added 19 and 14 points respectively.
President Rodrigo Duterte was in attendance and performed the ceremonial toss right before the game.
SOURCE:GILAS 2016
