The Philippine national men’s basketball team showed its big fighting heart again but faltered in the end as the Filipinos dropped another heartbreaking game, this time to Puerto Rico, 77-73, in the FIBA Basketball World Cup Wednesday in Seville, Spain.

JJ Barea rescued Puerto Rico and finished with 30 points and five rebounds. He also scored a layup with 51.8 seconds left and sank free throws in the endgame to complete Puerto Rico’s comeback from a 14-point deficit.

With the game tied at 70-all, Andray Blatche had the chance to give the lead to the Filipinos with under a minute left. But he threw the ball away as he drove to the basket, giving Puerto Rico an opportunity to grab the lead.

Barea then attacked and finished a layup over Ranidel De Ocampo with 51.8 seconds left to give Puerto Rico a 72-70 lead. De Ocampo missed a triple on the other end, forcing Gilas Pilipinas to send Barea to the line.

Barea made three of his next free throws to give Puerto Rico a 75-70 lead with 13 seconds left. Jimmy Alapag got fouled from downtown and nailed three free throws as Gilas Pilipinas saw some ray of hope, but Ricky Sanchez nailed two charities on the other end to ice the victory.

Gilas Pilipinas stumbled to a 6-0 deficit, but launched a furious 18-0 run bridging the first and second quarters to take a 14-point lead, 29-15.

Puerto Rico hung on for the remainder of the game, and eventually took the lead entering the final frame, 61-57, as Gilas Pilipinas was hounded with turnovers all game long.

The Filipinos fought in a nip-and-tuck affair in the end, with Puerto Rico having an answer every time Gilas Pilipinas takes the lead.

Barea scored a layup with 3:58 left to tie the game at 67-all, but Blatche nailed a triple to put Gilas Pilipinas ahead, 70-67.

But Barea fired a triple with 2:11 remaining to tie the game at 70-all before Blatche turned the ball over on the other end and the guard bailed out the Puerto Ricans.

Blatche finished with 25 points and 14 rebounds to lead Gilas Pilipinas, which got booted out of contention after dropping its fourth straight game in the tournament.

LA Tenorio added 18 points as the Filipinos wrap up their campaign in the groups stages on Thursday against Senegal.

The scores:

Puerto Rico (77) – Barea 30, Sanchez 13, Huertas 13, Rivera 5, Galindo 5, Diaz 4, Franklin 3, Clemente 2, Balkman 2.

Gilas Pilipinas (73) – Blatche 25, Tenorio 18, Lee 10, Alapag 6, Norwood 6, Castro 4, De Ocampo 2, Pingris 2, Chan 0. Fajardo 0.

Quarterscores: 13-25, 39-44, 61-57, 77-73.

Source- INTERAKSYON TV5