Metro Manila (CNN Philippines) — Gilas Pilipinas had to bleed to score a 73-66 victory over Japan in the second round of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship in Changsha, China on Sunday (September 27).
The Japanese gave Gilas trouble most of the way, but the Filipinos leaned on naturalized Filipino Andray Blatche down the stretch to pull away for good.
Blatche, who played through a twinge in his right foot, took over in the final six minutes and dropped nine points.
His last field goal gave the Filipinos a 71-66 breather before Jason Castro’s free throws sealed the win for Gilas.
Gilas now holds a 2-1 card to join Palestine at no. 2 behind defending champion Iran (2-0).
Gilas and Iran, the protagonists of the biennial meet’s 2013 edition, will square off on Monday (September 28) at 11:40 a.m.
