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Clarkson, Gilas stamp class over Saudi Arabia

Sports | Basketball

Clarkson, Gilas stamp class over Saudi Arabia

By Reynald I. Magallon

In front of a sellout crowd that included President Ferdinand "Bongbong" Marcos Jr., Jordan Clarkson stamped his class all-game long as Gilas Pilipinas routed Saudi Arabia, 84-46, in the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers on National Heroes day on Monday, Aug. 29.

Jordan Clarkson delights the crowd as Gilas Pilipinas routs Saudi Arabia. (Ali Vicoy)

Clarkson helped the Filipinos buck a slow start before spearheading a huge third-quarter explosion to shake off a gritty Arabs squad before a crowd of 19,829.

The Utah Jazz guard dazzled with an array of highlight plays, long three-pointers, and a thunderous dunk to finish with 23 points, six assists and five rebounds as he picked up his first win in Gilas uniform and homecourt debut in FIBA-sanctioned tournaments.

Young guns Kai Sotto and Dwight Ramos continued to impress with the former posting a double-double effort of 16 points and 13 rebounds while the latter finished with nine points and six rebounds including an emphatic dunk against Arab center Mohammed Almarwan with 3:31 left in the first half.

The Filipinos had to buck some jitters in the opening quarter which allowed Saudi Arabia to take a 14-11 lead. Clarkson kept Gilas afloat during that span, scoring all of the field goals for a nine-point first-quarter output before the rest of the crew got their bearings going in the second quarter.

An alley-oop from Clarkson to Sotto before another and-1 play lit the fire for the nationals as they tasted the lead, 21-18, midway through the second quarter.

A back-breaking 24-8 third-quarter explosion spearheaded by Clarkson, Sotto and Ramos ultimately took the fight out of Saudi Arabia as Gilas built a 61-36 heading into the payoff period.

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