Sunday

Group A

Philippines 70-80 Angola

Angola withstood the pressure of a boisterous crowd and an elimination game to defeat hosts Philippines 80-70 and register their first victory at the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2023.

Angola knew they would be eliminated from contention for the Second Round with a loss but they lived to fight another day with a 1-1 record in Group A.

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The African representatives got a balanced performance in front of a sold-out crowd of 12,784 at the Manila Araneta Coliseum in moving to 2-0 all-time against the Philippines after previously beating the Asians 84-81 in overtime in the First Round of the 2019 World Cup.

Philippines opened the rare big lead as the home side were ahead 28-16 midway through the second quarter.

Angola fought back and pulled ahead early in the third quarter, which went back and forth. Philippines were down just 58-54 but Angola reeled off a 10-1 spurt to open a 68-55 advantage.

The lead was 73-57 with under 4 minutes to play only to see the hosts score the next 11 points to get within 73-68. But Gerson Domingos drained the back-breaking three-pointer with 47 seconds left.

Angola had good balance in their team with four players scoring in double figures, and Gerson Goncalves was one of them with 17 points with 4 three-pointers to go along with 6 rebounds, 1 steal and 1 block.

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Angola grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and drained 9 three-pointers while holding Philippines to just 18 percent on three-pointers. They remained alive in the fight for the Second Round with a 1-1 record in the group and a final showdown with Dominican Republic on Tuesday, August 29.

The Philippines still have faint chances to reach the next round and they must beat Italy later on Tuesday.