MANILA (UPDATED) -- Gilas Pilipinas put up a huge fight in the final minutes of the game, but still fell short against Angola, 80-70, in the 2023 FIBA World Cup on Sunday at the Araneta Coliseum.

The nationals took a big hit with the loss, their second since bowing to Dominican Republic, 87-81, last Friday. They are now 0-2 in Group A.

Trailing by double digits, the Filipinos rallied to within 68-73 with 1:12 remaining. But a defensive breakdown led to a three-pointer by Gerson Domingos that gave Angola a 76-68 lead, and Gilas could not recover.

Gilas had a good start with Roger Pogoy and Jordan Clarkson leading the offense for a 15-12 lead. A tip in and two free throws by CJ Perez hiked the lead for the nationals, 19-12.

In the second period, Gilas uncorked a 9-0 run capped by Pogoy's jumper, 26-17. But Angola’s Bruno Fernando began to assert himself in the paint and successive treys by Gerson Goncalves tied the count, 28-all.

Gilas then fell to a maze of errors against Angolan defense. The Angolans then piled the points from beyond the arc to take the halftime lead.

The Angolans kept pestering the nationals, forcing Kiefer Ravena and Clarkson to bleed for points in the third. Angola secured a 56-52 lead on fastbreak points heading to the fourth.

The gap widened to 66-55, but Gilas kept battling in the last three minutes. AJ Edu's incursions pulled the Filipinos to within 73-66 with 2:10 to go.

But Domingos rattled in a dagger three with 47 seconds remaining for Angola's 76-68 lead and the Filipinos could not get any closer.

Clarkson was the lone Gilas player who scored in double digits with 21 points, seven assists and three rebounds. However, Clarkson shot just 7-of-22 from the field as he was stifled by Angola's defense throughout the game.

Edu had nine markers and Sotto added eight. June Mar Fajardo was limited to four points. As a team, Gilas made just 43% of its shots -- including just four of 22 three-pointers.

On the other hand, Goncalves connected four treys for 17 points for Angola. Domingos added 15, while Fernando had 14.

Gilas fell to 0-2 and remained the winless team in Group A. Angola improved to 1-1 and is now tied with Italy.

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