The Phiippine national men’s basketball team tries to move closer to an outright quarterfinal spot as Gilas Pilipinas faces Iraq in the 2017 FIBA Asia Cup on Friday at Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Beirut, Lebanon.
After stunning defending champions China, 96-87, to open their campaign last Wednesday, the Filipinos now aim to clinch their second straight win which will put them on the brink of nailing the No.1 spot in Group B.
Securing the top seed will be very crucial for Gilas Pilipinas given the tournament’s ardous format.
Only the No.1 teams from the four groups are guaranteed to make it to the quarterfinals. Teams that will finish second and third will dispute the remaining slots through a play-off where they will tussle with squads from the other brackets.
But first, Gilas Pilipinas has to overcome Iraq, a highly physical team bannered by naturalized player Kevin Galloway, a 6’7″ guard who led his squad to a 75-66 upset over Qatar on Wednesday.
Galloway, a high-volume scorer, finished with 16 points, eight rebounds, three assists, three steals and one block while playing all of 40 minutes for Iraq in that win.
Gilas Pilipinas is already familiar with Iraq. The Filipinos beat them in the William Jones Cup last July, 84-75, in an intense game that saw Carl Bryan Cruz and Christian Standhardinger get into some heated moments with their opponents.
