Jay R. Gotera MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas, the Philippine national men's basketball team, drubbed the Talk N Text Tropang Texters, 93-77, Friday night to score its first victory in the MVP Cup, a three-day, four-team pocket tournament featuring a team from New Zealand and Taiwan. It was Gilas Pilipinas' first game after a silver medal finish in the 37th William Jones Cup last week. The 5'11” guard Terrence Romeo once again stood tallest, firing 22 points and five assists to lead Gilas against a tough TNT squad that included two former Gilas players who are this year's top 2 draft picks, Moala Tautuaa and Troy Rosario. The game was close in the first half, but the Gilas boys pulled away in the second half where they led by as much as 20 points, 83-63, and never looked back. Naturalized player Andray Blatche played for the first time with Gilas, managing to score 12 points on a dismal 4-of-14 shooting from the floor. The former NBA star appeared to be out of shape as he struggled throughout the game. Jayson Castro added 14 points while Ranidel De Ocampo added 12 points in a game against their PBA teammates. Larry Fonacier led the Texters with 20 points. Tautuaa and Rosario, finished with 16 and five, respectively, in their first game for TNT. Gilas Pilipinas will face New Zealand club Wellington Saints on Saturday in a rematch of their tightly fought Jones Cup game which the Filipinos won, 92-88, in overtime. Gilas plays Chinese Taipei Sunday. The tournament serves as final preparations for the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China, set to begin on Sept. 23 both for Gilas Pilipinas and the Chinese-Taipei squad. Romeo, who appeared to have recovered from an ankle sprain in Taiwan, was also Gilas' top scorer in the Jones Cup with a 15.2 scoring average. Calvin Abueva also played well in the Taiwan event, averaging 10.1 points despite appearing in just 13.2 minutes per contest. Abueva also shot the highest percentage from the field (56.4 percent) among the Gilas players that appeared in more than two games. In the opening game of the three-day, four-team pocket tournament, the Wellington Saints from New Zealand overpowered Chinese Taipei, 108-80. The win avenged the Saints' 84-86 loss to Taiwan's national basketball team on Sept. 5 during the just concluded Jones Cup in Taiwan. Wellington led all the way behind, cashing in on the firepower of Brook Ruscoe and Ray Turner, who scored 25 points apiece. Three other Saints scored in double digits while playing-coach Kevin Braswell finished with an all-around eight points, 11 assists, four rebounds, and three steals. Meanwhile, after the MVP Cup, Gilas will fly to Cebu City and go into “seclusion” in preparation for the upcoming FIBA Asia championship in Changsha, China. Gilas coach Tab Baldwin said he will try to put “new things” in the Gilas game plan and iron out the flaws.
