Jazz Star Jordan Clarkson Scores 24 in Gilas Pilipinas' World Cup Loss to South Sudan

The Philippines' struggles in the 2023 FIBA World Cup continued on Thursday with an 87-68 loss to South Sudan in the classification round.

After finishing 32nd in this tournament four years ago, Gilas Pilipinas was an automatic qualifier for the 2023 event as one of the host countries. The results have been rough with an 0-4 record and average margin of defeat of 10.5 points.

Jordan Clarkson and Dwight Ramos did what they could to keep the Philippines in the game. The Utah Jazz guard finished with a game-high 24 points. Ramos dropped 20 points in 33 minutes.

The rest of the Gilas Pilipinas team combined to score 24 points and made two of 14 attempts from behind the arc.

On the other side of the equation, South Sudan is having an impressive showing in its first FIBA World Cup. The team is 2-2 with a positive point differential (+2) going into its final game on Saturday.

Five players scored in double figures for South Sudan, including four starters. After being held to three points on 1-of-5 shooting in Wednesday's loss to Serbia, Carlik Jones got back on track with a near-triple-double of 17 points, 14 assists and nine rebounds.

Jones got excellent support from Wenyen Gabriel, who also had a double-double of 11 points and 12 rebounds. The 26-year-old also had two blocks in the win.

South Sudan only shot 41 percent from the field, but it made 12 of 33 attempts from behind the arc. The defense held the Philippines to 26-of-74 shooting overall and forced 15 turnovers.

Gilas Pilipinas only made one field goal in the first four minutes of the game and was outscored 34-17 in the opening quarter. After trailing by 23 points at halftime, they were able to make things interesting early in the fourth quarter by cutting the deficit to 60-54 with 8:27 remaining.

South Sudan responded by closing the game on a 27-14 run to turn the game back into a blowout.

The loss leaves the Philippines in need of a win in its final game against China to make it into the field for the FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

South Sudan can clinch an automatic berth into the 2024 Olympics as the highest-ranked African team with a victory over Angola. The game will be played on Saturday at 3:45 a.m. ET.

The Gilas Pilipinas-China matchup is scheduled for Saturday at 7:45 a.m. ET.