Batang Gilas bounced back from a heartbreaking loss against Korea yesterday and leaned on their hot sniping to take down defending FIBA Asia U16 Championship winners China, Tuesday in second round action in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The Philippines closed the game with an 11-0 run highlighted by three triples to accomplish the historic feat.
China were previously undefeated in all of the FIBA Asia U16 tournaments they had joined, and a superior quotient following a triple tie with the Philippines and Korea will give China the top seed in Group F.
All three nations finished with a 4-1 record. Batang Gilas will finish second in Group F and shall face Group E’s third seeded team, Japan.
After a 5-0 run by Bai Hao Tian gave China a 72-67 lead, Gian Mamuyac and Jason Credo each knocked down a triple to hand Batang Gilas a 73-72 lead under the final two minutes.
Mamuyac then had a crucial steal with only 40 seconds left after a China timeout, and dished to Jonas Tibayan for the fastbreak layup, 75-72.
In the ensuing play, Wang Yi Bo missed a triple, then Credo grabbed the rebound. SJ Belangel drained the decisive triple with only 10 seconds left to see off the defending champions.
Batang Gilas were inspired in the first half, shooting 43 percent from three-point land to build a 39-33 lead before China opened the second half on an 11-2 run to take the 43-39 edge.
From there it was back and forth, with six straight from Wang Rui early in the fourth making it 61-57 for China.
But the Philippines never surrendered, using their firepower to turn the tides around. Batang Gilas shot an impressive 13-for-28 from three-point area and assisted 24 of 28 field goal makes.
Mamuyac led all scorers with 22 points on 3-for-5 three-point shooting. Belangel added 11 points while Credo and Kris Pagsanjan both had 10 points.
The tournament will take a rest day on November 4 before resuming action on November 5 for the knockout stages.
The top three finishers earn a ticket to the 2016 FIBA U17 World Championship.
The Scores:
Philippines (78) – Mamuyac 22, Belangel 11, Credo 10, Pagsanjan 10, Gomez de Liano 9, Tibayan 7, Gozum 4, Publico 3, Ildefonso 2, Flores 0, Escalona 0.
China (72) – Bai 21, Zhu 16, Wang 13, Zhao 9, Wu 9, Xu 2, Wang Y. 2, Wang J. 0, Huang 0, Han 0, Li 0.
Quarterscores: 13-16, 39-33, 53-52, 78-72.
