Visiting Kazakhstan pulled the rug from under the Philippines and hammered a stunning 92-88 win right at the Filipinos' home turf in their FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifying matchup Friday.
The loss kept Gilas Pilipinas at third place in Group F with a 5-4 record, in a tie with Japan. The Philippines will host Iran, at second place with 6-3, on Monday.
Stanley Pringle's ill-advised threes in the endgame coupled with the Kazakhs' steady free throw shooting did the hosts in.
He, however, led the Filipinos with 29 points, 4 assists and three rebounds that all went down the drain.
Gilas had no answer to the visitors' starting center Alexandr Zhigulin, who had 30 points, 7 rebounds, and 2 assists.
READ: PH confident but not complacent against Kazakhs