Gilas battles Jordan as 2nd round of FIBA World Cup qualifiers starts

Sports

A JUSTIN Brownlee-less Gilas Pilipinas will face Jordan to start its campaign in the second round of FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers on Friday night, Aug. 28, at the Mall of Asia Arena.

Game time is set at 8:30 p.m.

Gilas will be playing an All-Filipino lineup after Brownlee opted to sit out due to a hamstring injury.

Leading Gilas is the towering trio of June Mar Fajardo, AJ Edu, and the returning Kai Sotto.

Gilas’ 12 12-man roster also includes Dwight Ramos, Carl Tamayo, Kevin Quiambao, Justin Baltazar, Juan Gomez De Liano, Chris Newsome, Troy Rosario, Scottie Thompson, and CJ Perez.

The Tim Cone-coached Gilas started the qualifiers with back-to-back wins against Guam. The Nationals suddenly struggled and lost their last four games.

Gilas will be taking on a Jordan squad looking to pull off a revenge.

Gilas defeated Jordan in the gold medal match of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games, 70-60.

Jordan is on a roll in the qualifiers, where it is 5-1.

After Jordan, Gilas will take on Iran on Aug. 30 at the same venue.(CCM)