MANILA, Philippines -- (UPDATED) Jordan Clarkson's first game on home soil proved to be a memorable -- and triumphant -- one.

Gilas Pilipinas recovered from a slow start, then pulled away in an explosive third quarter to overwhelm visiting Saudi Arabia, 84-46, in front of a massive crowd at the Mall of Asia Arena on a Monday night.

Clarkson, in his debut in the Philippines, led the way with 23 points, five rebounds and six assists. With him at the forefront, Gilas split its two games in the fourth window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

The Filipino-American guard kept Gilas afloat during a lethargic start, scoring nine of their 11 points in the opening period. Saudi Arabia was in control early, taking a 14-11 lead after the opening frame to put the hosts on the back foot.

But Gilas finally got its rhythm in the second quarter, before thoroughly breaking the game open in the third period where they out-scored Saudi Arabia, 24-8.

"The one thing that we wanted to focus on before the game was to just get better. To play better than our previous game against Lebanon. That meant having better effort, and specifically, cutting down on our turnovers," Gilas coach Chot Reyes said after.

"I think today, we had 15 turnovers, and that's pretty acceptable. So very happy for the result, and even happier for the effort that the players put forth in this ball game," he added.

Backing up Clarkson was Kai Sotto, who had a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds. Dwight Ramos finished with nine points, six rebounds and two assists, and energized the crowd with a thunderous dunk in the second quarter.

The Philippines shot 42% from the field, and had a 55-38 rebounding edge. They committed only 15 turnovers and limited Saudi Arabia to a paltry 23% clip.

Despite the slow start, Gilas managed to take a 37-28 lead at the break. But it was in the third quarter that the Filipinos truly took control of the game. They scored six unanswered points to open the frame, capped by a tomahawk dunk from Clarkson that brought the crowd to its feet and forced Saudi Arabia into an early timeout.

It was all Gilas from there, with the Filipinos pouring it on in the final quarter. The lead grew as large as 40 points thanks to a floater by Calvin Oftana with 1:10 left.

"Any win is great. We're happy that we won, and we are starting to jell as a team. We started off slow but were starting to get there," Ramos said.

The victory was witnessed by a crowd of 19,829 fans at the Pasay venue, which included former President Rodrigo Duterto and Senator Bong Go. President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. arrived midway through the third quarter, to cheers from the gallery.

The Scores:

PHILIPPINES 84 -- Clarkson 23, Sotto 16, Ramos 9, Aguilar 8, K. Ravena 8, Parks 6, Oftana 6, T. Ravena 4, Thompson 2, Malonzo 2, Newsome 0, Adams 0.

SAUDI ARABIA 46 -- Abdel Gabar 9, Kadi 9, Ma. Almarwani 9, Mo. Almarwani 8, Almuwallad 4, Belal 3, Mohammed 2, Abo Jalas 2, Alsager 0, Albargawi 0.

Quarters: 14-11, 37-28, 61-36, 84-46.

RELATED VIDEO:

Watch more News on iWantTFC