Filipino American player Jordan Clarkson scored 34 points during the Philippines’ victory over China on Saturday at the 2023 FIBA World Cup.
The Gilias Pilipinas beat China 96-75 at Smart Araneta Coliseum in Quezon City in the Philippines. According to Olympics.com, the win snapped the team’s nine-year losing streak at World Cups.
China led by a point heading into halftime. Clarkson, who plays for the Utah Jazz in the NBA, played an incredible third quarter to help his team pull into the lead. According to FIBA, the 31-year-old scored 20 points in less than four minutes.
Unfortunately, Saturday’s victory marked the end of the road for the Gilas, who did not qualify for the knock-out rounds. The team wanted to make sure they put on a good performance for their home crowd supporters.
“We just had two words on our board, no Xs and Os. ‘Dig deep.’ We reminded the players that this being a non-bearing game, Filipinos still came to watch. We wanted to gift the Filipino people for their continued belief in the team. And that’s what the players did,” national coach Chot Reyes said in the post-game presser, according to Inquirer.net.
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