Batang Gilas Pilipinas lost their second straight game after suffering a heartbreaking defeat in the hands of Thailand, 74-71, in the FIBA Asia U18 Championship 2016 Tuesday night in Tehran, Iran.
Batang Gilas were down 8-4 with less than seven minutes remaining in the opening frame, but the young Filipinos surged back with a 10-2 run behind John Gallego, Kemark Carino, Jonas Tibayan, and Kris Pagsanjan to go ahead, 14-10, with 4:56 left. Thailand punched in baskets to tie it at 14, but Batang Gilas answered back to take the upper hand once more, 18-14. Thailand nailed six straight points to wrap up the quarter with a two-point lead, 20-18.
Back-to-back baskets from Theo Flores and John Bahio pulled the Philippines ahead by a field goal, 22-20, to open the scoring fray of the second quarter. The Thais, however, responded by deploying a 9-2 run paced by Justin Bassey to gain the lead, 29-24, with 3:04 on the clock. Batang Gilas inched closer, 29-28, after a Fran Yu jumper, but Thailand chipped in baskets courtesy of Attapong Leelaphipatkul to go up by five, 33-28, with 23 ticks left. Gilas closed out the first half strong after a Gian Mamuyac triple to head into the halftime down by just two, 33-31.
Another five-point lead, 36-31, was posted by the Thais early in the third quarter as Bassey hit a trey of his own, breaking a cold spell in the quarter that lasted for almost three minutes. From the deficit, Batang Gilas, with the duo of Gallego and Jolo Mendoza gaining rhythm on offense, stormed to an 11-5 comeback to snatch the lead, 42-41, midway. From that point on, a back-and-forth battle ensued between Batang Gilas and the Thais, exchanging buckets after buckets. Thailand had the last laugh as they ended the third ahead by a strand, 57-56.
The Philippines welcomed the final frame with six points from Gallego to take a four-point advantage, 63-59, with less than seven minutes left. But Bassey orchestrated a 9-0 blitz alongside Sirawit Pamanee and Pongsatorn Tabtim to put his team ahead, 68-63, with 2:48 in the game. Batang Gilas ran back and tied it up at 68, but Tabtim drained a triple to halt their run and put the Thais up, 71-68. Mendoza’s responding trey made it 71-all, but Bassey sank a jumper to go up 73-71. A split from Suwichai Suwan iced the game for Thailand, 74-71.
Bassey, Thailand’s go-to guy who played all forty minutes, had a monstrous performance as he led all scorers with 34 big points and hauled down 21 rebounds. Tabtim and Natthaworn Banchathon backed Bassey with 13 and 11, respectively.
Mendoza led Batang Gilas with 22 points, while Gallego chipped in 20 markers. The two were the only players that scored in double figures for the Philippines.
Thailand had better collective stats versus the Filipinos. The Thais outrebounded Gilas U18, 45-39, and they also passed the ball around better, having 14 dimes compared to the Philippines’ 10.
Batang Gilas (1-3) will have Indonesia as their opponents late at night tomorrow, July 27, at 11:30 PM.
The Scores:
Thailand (74) – Bassey 34, Tabtim 13, Banchathon 11, Pamanee 6, Suwan 5, Leelaphipatkul 2, Jaimsawad 2, Thanarojwongsa 1, Cox 0, Kanhasin 0, Kitbumroong 0, Arbu 0.
Philippines (71) – Mendoza 22, Gallego 20, Bahio 9, Mamuyac 7, Tibayan 5, Flores 2, Carino 2, Pagsanjan 2, Yu 2, Sinclair 0, Madrigal 0, Lee 0.
Quarterscores: 20-18, 33-31, 57-56, 74-71.
