Gilas Pilipinas had a nightmare start against Jordan on Friday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena to open the second round of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers. The Jordanians raced out to a 12‑4 lead early, built that advantage to as much as 18, and ended the opening frame ahead, 28‑14.
The Philippines clawed back in the second quarter with tough defense from Scottie Thompson and offensive contributions from Kevin Quiambao, Dwight Ramos, and Kai Sotto. Gilas Pilipinas even got to within 38‑34 with 2:46 left in the first half before Jordan pushed the lead back to eight, 44‑36, with time winding down.
Then, with 10 seconds remaining before halftime, Carl Tamayo got the ball at the top of the key. The former UAAP star and current KBL standout sized the defense up, dribbled the time away, and rose up for the triple.
Swish.
Carl Tamayo Lifts Up Gilas Pilipinas
That end‑of‑the‑half trey by Tamayo cut the Jordan lead to five, 44‑39, heading into intermission. And, for all intents and purposes, that triple will likely be a footnote to what turned out to be a frenetic and heartstopping finish that saw Gilas Pilipinas eke out an 82‑81 victory in overtime.
For national team coach Tim Cone, however, that shot emboldened Gilas Pilipinas the rest of the way.
“We worked our way back into the game. We got it down to three or four, and then they made a run again, got it up to eight. And then that last shot of Carl Tamayo at the buzzer, I think that really lifted our spirits and got us believing that we were going to win the game,” Cone said of Tamayo’s buzzer‑beater. “I think before that, we were kind of in doubt, especially after that first quarter. Like I said, we took a punch from them early, and we had to really shake it off and move forward.”
What happened next bore out Cone’s assessment. Gilas Pilipinas opened the second half with a 12‑2 burst to take a 51‑46 lead and put that nightmare start firmly in the rearview mirror. “It was a real character time for us,” Cone added. “And in the third quarter, I think guys were just living off that last moment of that half. They brought it forward into the third quarter.”
Jordan eventually retook the lead heading into the final frame, but by then Gilas Pilipinas had started believing they could beat the Jordanians.
Gilas Pilipinas Finishes the Job… Without Carl Tamayo
In a cruel twist, Tamayo missed much of Gilas Pilipinas’ third‑quarter storm as he had to be subbed out at the 7:58 mark after rolling his ankle on a drive. But his absence hardly mattered as everybody else stepped up in their own ways.
Scottie Thompson played fantastic defense, Dwight Ramos did Dwight Ramos things, Kai Sotto came up big, and AJ Edu backed him up with energy and hustle. Then, Cjay Perez took over and Kevin Quiambao made the game’s biggest trey in OT.
It was, for lack of a better description, a spirited team effort. And it resulted in a dramatic triumph.
Apparently, that Carl Tamayo triple much earlier lifted that spirit up.
