Gilas Pilipinas, an assembly of PBA stars plus naturalized player Andray Blatche, frustrated Team Japan and its home crowd to start its chase of a ticket to the 2019 FIBA World Cup at the Komazawa Gymnasium in Tokyo on Monday.
The Nationals overcame the Japanese's gritty stand, banking on clutch hits by Jayson Castro at the finish to carve out a 77-71 triumph.
Castro, the TNT KaTropa main man, sizzled with sterling all-around numbers with 20 points, seven rebounds and six assists, and highlighted his solid performance with a crucial five-point binge entering the final minute of the contest.
Trailing by six at 69-75, the Japanese eventually fell on their knees on an illegal pick by naturalized player Ira Brown on RR Pogoy.
Blatche, Gabe Norwood and Matthew Wright performed their tasks, and helped the Nationals to a triumphant start in this WC home-and-away qualifying series among 16 teams from the Asia/Oceania region.
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Gilas will be next up against Chinese Taipei at the Smart Araneta Coliseum Monday while Japan tangles with Australia in Adelaide also on Monday.
The Filipinos seized the earlier initiative and stayed in the lead most of the way, but needed to fend off repeated fightbacks by Japan anchored on its swift transition game.
Japan's running attack and fine perimeter shooting was at its finest at the start of the second half, allowing the home team to quickly erase a nine-point halftime deficit.
The Japanese blanked the Filipinos, 12-0, in the first three minutes of the third quarter to wrest the upper hand at 40-37.
Gilas, however, regrouped, storming back in the lead at 53-46, and hung tough to the very end.
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Castro found an answer on each clutch basket by Japanese guard Yuki Togashi in the crunch, with the last bucket made by the Filipino playmaker - a booming straight-away trey - all but sealing Gilas' win at 75-69.
Blatche had his own solid all-around stats with 13 markers, 12 boards, five dish-offs and three steals but committed six errors.
The Nationals blew away a 37-28 halftime lead when they turned the ball over four times and missed all their first three attempts in the first three minutes of the third.
Japan had seized the lead at 40-37 before the Filipinos broke their silence on a trey by Wright.
The Filipinos reestablished a double-digit spread at 70-60 but the Japanese just won't give up, keeping on fighting back as they pushed the ball and attacked the basket on every opportunity.
Makoto Hiejima fired 20 points while naturalized player Ira Brown came through with 15 boards and 10 markers for the Japanese.
(Photo: FIBA Basketball)
The scores:
Philippines 77 - Castro 20, Blatche 13, Wright 12, Norwood 10, Fajardo 6, Aguilar 5, Pogoy 5, Abueva 5, Ravena 1, Alas 0, Rosario 0.
Japan 71 - Hiejima 20, Brown 10, Tanaka 10, Togashi 8, Harimoto 7, Baba 7, Shinoyama 4, Takeuchi 3, Ota 2, Uto 0, Furukawa 0.
Quarterscores: 18-10, 37-28, 59-55, 77-71
