Team Gilas Pilipinas finally posts a needed win, and decimates African power Senegal in a hard-fought 81-79 overtime victory. Andray Blatche led the Philippine squad with 18 points before fouling out in overtime. Jimmy “Mighty Mouse” Alapag, the heart and Soul of RP Five, and Junmar “The Kraken” Fajardo kept the Filipino boat afloat with 18 and 15 markers apiece. Shooting phenom Mouhammad Faye meanwhile paced the Senegalese effort with 20 points.

Aching to notch a real win outside moral victories at Seville, the Pinoy dribblers delivered in extra time and notched the first victory for the Pinoys at the World Cup in nearly 40 years. It was bitter sweet for Philippine Basketball as the Asian powerhouse failed to advance to the quarterfinals following a string of heart-breaking and closely contested losses. The victory was also somewhat important after an ugly out of court incident in which a Senegalese faction heckled a Filipino contingent with SBP President Manny Pangilinan “to go home” a night before the tiff commenced.

Senegal failed to overcome a mammoth Filipino effort despite the latter losing Blatche in the critical bonus quarter. Jimmy Alapag again delivered the necessary freethrows in overtime and upended the Senegal uprising. Alapag shrugged-off a near fatal fall off a Senegalese player and proved his mettle by notching the win for the Gilas quintet.

“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity and I enjoyed every second being on court, playing against the world’s best,” said Team Captain Jimmy Alapag, who indicated his impending retirement from the international game. Coach Chot Reyes meanwhile stated, “This is really Gilas basketball at its finest.”