Rondae Hollis-Jefferson proved to be the biggest thorn in the side of Gilas Pilipinas after leading Jordan to a masterful 87-62 victory over the Filipinos in the men’s basketball competitions in the 19th Asian Games at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium on Saturday, Sept. 30.

Hollis-Jefferson came up huge in the second half, helping the Falcons repel a massive third-quarter uprising from the Filipinos whose medal hopes hit a snag after getting denied for an outright quarterfinals seat by the crucial loss. 

The former NBA player and incoming second-year TNT import in the PBA, displayed his wide offensive arsenal, scoring in a variety of ways against Gilas defense to preside over a deciding 13-0 run bridging the third and final frame that allowed Jordan to pull away from a 52-all deadlock.

It was a run that was so massive that it seemed to have taken the fight out of Gilas which, with all of its might, earlier rallied back from a double-digit deficit in the first half to tie the game midway through the third.

As expected, the matchup between Hollis-Jefferson and Justin Brownlee put an entertaining sidelight to the crucial encounter with both players unloading 24 points for their respective teams.

The Jordan naturalized player, however, once again had the last laugh in their rivalry as apart from getting the victory over Brownlee, also had a more all-around performance that included nine assists and eight rebounds.

He also proved to have the better supporting cast this time around with four players scoring in double-figures led by the 17 points from Fadi Mustafa and the 12 from Sami Bzai. John Bohannon and Ahmad Al Dwairi also finished with 10 apiece.

Brownlee, for his part, injured and all, tried to carry Gilas on his shoulders, spearheading Gilas’ 23-10 third quarter onslaught that tied the game before Jordan woke up from slumber and generated seven unanswered points to restore a 59-52 lead.

It was simply all Jordan from there as the Falcons limited Gilas to a measly 10 points in the final period while exploding for 28 points to stretch the lead to as many as 27 points.

All is not lost, however, for Gilas as it remains very much in contention for the podium although it will have to go through the longer route after finishing second in the Group C standings with 2-1 record.

Gilas now has to face the third place team of Group D for the right to advance to the quarterfinals and take on another Asian powerhouse team in Iran.