MANILA -- Tunisia slammed the door on Gilas Pilipinas Men's outright bid for the Tokyo Olympics with an 86-67 rout in the classification phase of the FIBA World Cup at the Wukesong Sports Center in Beijing, China on Friday night.
Tunisia surged ahead early on, opening a 27-10 first quarter and never looked back.
Omar Abada made 16 points, three rebounds, three assists, and two steals for Tunisia, which moved up to 2-2, solidifying its bid of at least making the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament next year or even make the Olympics outright as the best African nation in the FIBA worlds.
Michael Roll added 13 points, one rebound, four assists, one steal, and one block, while Salah Mejri (12 points and 12 rebounds) and Makram Ben Romdhane (10 points and 10 rebounds) each completed a double-double.
Andray Blatche made 24 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and two steals for Gilas Men, who also missed out on a Top 2 finish in Group N, which would have meant a spot in the OQT.
The Gilas Men can now only hope that they will be invited as one of the two wildcard entries for Asia in the OQT.
Meanwhile, host country China placed one foot into outright Olympic qualification with a 77-73 win against South Korea in Guangzhou.
China went on a crucial 7-1 run late in the final period to salvage the win.
China can officially claim the lone Asian outright spot for the Olympiad if it beats Nigeria or if Iran, which won, 71-62, over Angola, loses to Gilas Men. Both games will be played on Sunday night. (PNA)
