BANGKOK— Defending champion Gilas Pilipinas forced Indonesia to miss on a last-gasp three-point try at the buzzer to score a hard-earned 71-68 victory in the semifinal and reach the Big Dance of the men’s basketball tournament Thursday at the Nimibutr Stadium here.

The nationals led by as much as 16 (70-54) with under four minutes to go, but allowed the Indonesians to stage one big fightback that threatened the team’s bid to repeat in this year’s edition of the biennial meet.

Thirdy Ravena showed the way for Gilas with 16 points, six rebounds, and two assists, while Jamie Malonzo backed him up with 13 points and three boards.

Ray Parks, who was ejected due to a flagrant foul late in the game, and team captain Robert Bolick also had 12 and 10, respectively for the Filipino cagers.

“A win is a win. We’re happy with it. We got a chance to move on to the finals,” Gilas coach Norman Black said. “We have to give credit to the other team. They didn’t give up. They kept fighting.

“We did make some knucklehead moves down the stretch as far as decision making is concerned. But we have to be there and we have to win and get to the finals,” he added.

Gilas will take on the winner between host Thailand and Malaysia in the one-game finalFriday at 7 p.m. (local time) at the same venue.

Abraham Damar Gramita knocked down two free throws that pulled the Indonesians to within 68-70 with 22.1 seconds remaining before Black’s wards forced Senegalese-Indonesian big man Dame Diagne to commit a shot clock violation.

Bolick made one of his two foul shots that pegged the final count, only 7.3 ticks left.

The Philippine five trailed, 15-27, in the first quarter before battling back to close in on at 33-34 at the half.

Derrick Xzavierro paced Indonesia with a double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds while Diagne and Grahita each had 13.