(MENAFN- Gulf Times) The Pilipinas Beton team came from behind to pick up a thrilling 94-89 over Qavana Balkan in the Inter Nations Division of the Ooredoo Basketball Cup PIBAQ 25th Conference.
Qavana Balkan had kept Pilipinas at bay for most of the game with their unpredictable ball rotation. Pilipinas were not able to counter Qavana Balkan's offensive prowess. The impressive perimeter shooting by Andrija Stojancev made it even harder for Pilipinas to lock down the defence, forcing them to stretch to cover Qavana Balkan's shooters.
In the third quarter, Pilipinas Beton's woes continued as they saw Qavana Balkan's lead reach double digits as Adam Rickwood led his team on the offensive end. Pilipinas Beton barely closed the gap to single digit before the start of the fourth.
It was then that Pilipinas veteran Rodel Mallari asserted his advantage in the paint as they saw Qavana Balkan starting to feel the fatigue. This enabled Pilipinas to slowly close the gap on Qavana Balkan.
With 3 minutes remaining and Qavana leading by 4, Pilipinas Beton's Nino Gelig launched back-to-back threes to grab the lead. A short stab by Albin Pjanic returned the favour to Qavana but Gelig unleashed another three to up their lead to two as Qavana lost steam in the final minutes.
Rodel Mallari led Pilipinas with a double-double performance of 25 points and 10 rebounds along with a block. While Adam Rickwood paced Qavana with 22 markers.
The Ooredoo Basketball Cup PIBAQ 25th Conference is brought to you by the Qatar Basketball Federation in co-operation with the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas Inc. and the Philippine Embassy in Qatar. It is also sponsored by Philippine Airlines, McDonald's, Happy Journey Travels and Season Restaurant. This year PIBAQ will also have Filipiknows as its media partner.
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