Gilas Pilipinas drop close call to Poland in final tuneup before FIBA OQT in Latvia

Poland doused a late Gilas Pilipinas rally on the way to a thrilling 82-80 win in a tuneup game at the Arena Sosnoweic in Poland on Sunday, June 30 (PHL time).

Michal Sokolowski fired 21 points on three treys to lead the Eagles, who are also gearing up for their own FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Valencia, Spain.

 Sokolowski also had two rebounds, five assists, and four steals for Poland, which made 11-of-24 from the three-point area.

Aleksander Balceroski added 10 points and three rebounds, while San Antonio Spur Jeremy Sochan and Andrzej Pluta chipped in eight points each.

Poland gained steam early in the fourth period, with Sokolowski leading a 9-to-nothing tear to build a 67-56 buffer.

The Eagles refused to ease on the gas pedal and even led by as many as 14, 76-62, on Jaroslaw Zyskowski’s triple with at the halfway mark of the period.

But stepping up for Gilas Pilipinas, it was a Dwight Ramos show from there.

Ramos was the lone bright spot for Gilas in the final minutes, dropping 10 of his 16 points, including a booming corner triple off a Justin Brownlee handoff that trimmed the gap to five, 82-77, with 1:43 left on the clock.

But with Brownlee also subbing out with under two minutes remaining, Gilas could no longer whip up some magic after that, with the final score the closest the team could get.

Brownlee once again paced Gilas with 30 big points, spiked with three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

June Mar Fajardo had 10 points and three rebounds, while Kai Sotto had eight points, 11 rebounds, five asssits, and a block.

The aforementioned Ramos also had nine rebounds on top of his 16 points to go along with five assists, and three steals. Dwight also made a game-high four triples.

Gilas Pilipinas will now head to Riga for their last shot at Paris 2024. The FIBA OQT begins on July 2, although Gilas is playing until July 4 against the world no. 6 Latvia, before taking on Georgia in Group A.