Team Pilipinas erased a 17-point deficit then turned to a relentless defense in the second half to snatch the win from Qatar, 92-81, in the Fiba World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Monday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The silence was deafening inside the Big Dome following a stiff sanction from Fiba that disallowed the local basketball body to open the doors for the legion of Filipino fans.
Nevertheless, the squad delivered even if they needed extra effort on the defensive end to trim down a huge lead from the visitors for its fifth victory in eight games for the solo third spot in Group F.
“The big difference was that this team really wanted to win,” Team Pilipinas Head Coach Yeng Guiao said.
“It’s also the commitment to defend. They shot well from the three-point line. They gave us a scare,” he added.
Japeth Aguilar brushed off the stigma of a one-game suspension with a masterful work inside the paint. The 6-foot-9 big man scored 16, with 11 of it coming from the second half when the team slowly regained its groove.
Aguilar worked hand in hand with Beau Belga, who, despite his height disadvantage, used his impeccable work underneath to list 11 markers, six boards and three blocked shots.
Alex Cabagnot was as efficient with his 16 points, four rebounds and three assist.
Qatar’s Mohd Yousuf Mohmmed sank a jumper to make it a 37-20 gap with less than seven minutes to play in the second period.
The Qataris banked their trust to their outside sniping, as they held on for a 52-39 advantage at the break.
Things slowly went sour for the visitors as the locals showed scattered a 28-12 scoring in the third frame, then again made sure that Qatar will bleed for its shots in the final frame to take away the victory in comeback fashion.
Mohammed topscored the game with his 26 points that went with 10 rebounds and five assists. Nasser Khalifa Al-Rayes and Tanguy Alban Ngombo each had 17 for Qatar, which dropped sixth game in eight matches.