MANILA — Despite playing a “terrible” game, Gilas Pilipinas still had enough spunk to salvage a 99-87 victory over the PBA All-Star squad during an exhibition match Wednesday night at the Mall of Asia Arena. Gilas head coach Chot Reyes blasted his wards, particularly Jayson Castro, for dishing out a “terrible, terrible, terrible game” against a selection of PBA players playing together only for the first time. “Jayson Castro played horribly tonight. He played like he didn't belong to this team,” Reyes rued in the post-game press conference. Reyes was also unimpressed with the performance of LA Tenorio and Marc Pingris. “LA Tenorio played horribly, even Marc Pingris. Our guard play was really bad tonight,” he said. The Nationals committed 21 turnovers in their first game at home after playing a six-game series in New Zealand where they finished with a 3-3 win-loss record. The PBA Selection controlled the match for the first three quarters, even taking a 56-50 lead. But Gabe Norwood finally exploded in the fourth quarter, pouring in 10 points to spark a 27-4 Gilas run capped by back-to-back three-pointers from Larry Fonacier and Ranidel De Ocampo to break the game wide open. Gary David also had back to back triples in that run. The Nationals went on to lead by as much as 24 points, 94-70, with four minutes left in the match. De Ocampo led Gilas with 16 points with David added 14 markers. Jeff Chan and Norwood scored 13 points apiece while Marcus Douthit chipped in 11. Arwind Santos led all scorers with 21 points while Chris Tiu had 14. Nino Canaleta and Paul Lee added 13 points apiece. The Philippine Nationals face a tougher opponent on Friday as they tangle with the Kazakhstan national team in their final tuneup match before the start of the FIBA Asia hostilities on August 1. Reyes saying the Kazakhs are a legitimate threat because of the presence of several shooters and naturalized player Jerry “Triple” Johnson.
