Batang Gilas Pilipinas bounced back huge from two straight defeats after easily handling India, 105-82, in the FIBA Asia U18 Championship 2016 Wednesday night at Tehran, Iran.
With the lopsided victory, the Philippines has successfully qualified into the quarterfinals to face Group B’s second seed Korea this Friday, July 29.
Batang Gilas welcomed the opening quarter with a twelve-point lead, 17-5, paced by Fran Yu and Jolo Mendoza with exactly 7:00 on the clock. The Indians rose back, punching in their mid-range jumpers to cut the deficit down to just three, 22-19. But, the Philippines halted India’s run as Mendoza and Joshua Sinclair helped Batang Gilas sustain the lead, 30-21, in closing the frame.
India closed by six, 31-25, after a Vishal Gupta shot early in the second frame. Batang Gilas, from the tight affair, made a 12-5 run capped by Yu to post another double-digit lead, 42-30. The Philippines sustained their advantage, until India made it a nine-point affair, 48-39, with a minute left. But, the young Filipinos responded and wrapped up the first half in their favor with another lead in double figures, 51-39.
With Mendoza, Sinclair, Jonas Tibayan, and Gian Mamuyac contributing on offense, the third quarter saw Batang Gilas establish a wide, 24-point margin, 67-43, with 5:40 on the clock. With Muhammed Noushad leading the way, India was able to convert baskets to stay in the game. They scored 18 in the frame, but the Philippines were too much as the third quarter ended with the latter up big, 79-57.
Batang Gilas posted the game’s biggest lead at 26, 89-63, after a Kenmark Carino jumper in the 6:44 mark. From then on, the Philippines never looked back, scoring on almost every given opportunity through possessions. And after a Rendell Lee triple with two minutes left, the Filipinos saw themselves hit the century mark, 100-75. Batang Gilas then cruised to the 23-point, 105-82 win.
Mendoza shone the brightest for Batang Gilas, leading all scorers with 23 points on 8/12 shooting. Mamuyac supplied 12 markers, while Carino and Yu chipped in 14 and 12, respectively.
India was led by Daniel Arthur Wilson with 16 points, with Gupta and Sahil supporting him with 11 points apiece.
The Philippines succeeded facets in the team stats department, especially in rebounding, 49-46. They also had more assists compared to India, 20-12. Their shooting clip was also a decent 48.2 percent by hitting 41 of their 85 attempts.
The Scores:
Philippines (105) – Mendoza 23, Carino 14, Yu 12, Mamuyac 12, Lee 9, Sinclair 9, Tibayan 7, Gallego 7, Pagsanjan 5, Madrigal 2, Flores 1.
India (82) – Arthur-Wilson 16, Gupta 11, Sahil 11, Mohammed Ali 10, Noushad 9, Poiyamozhi 8, Rachit 6, Ragupathy 5, Sayyed 2, Hansraj 2, Benny 0.
Quarterscores: 30-21, 51-39, 79-57, 105-82.
