Robert Bolick led the decisive breakaway as Gilas Pilipinas got its Asian Games title defense bid on the right track after rolling past Kazakhstan, 109-78, on Saturday night at the Aichi International Arena in Japan.
Scoreless in their 89-85 defeat to Bahrain yesterday, the SEA Games gold medalist rifled in 20 points — 13 in the second period alone — as the team made it a one-sided affair in their favor.
He found his touch, knocking down three triples in an overwhelming 20-2 assault for a 38-17 lead with 4:57 remaining in the said chapter.
The others then took it from there, giving the reigning champions the must-win game and boosting their bid to make the quarterfinals.
But it wasn’t just Bolick who gained their footing after laying eggs against the Bahrainis in their tournament debut. Sedrick Barefield, Jerrick Ahanmisi, and Brandon Bates all finally tallied points in a Philippines uniform.
Ahanmisi himself finished with a game-best 22 points, garnering most of his output during the fourth quarter, where he led the closeout. The team finished strong, with seven made shots from deep — five from the San Miguel Beer guard, with four in succession.
The run eventually pushed their lead to 97-74 with 3:26 left to play.
Ahanmisi hit seven of the team’s 16 triples as they got their flow going from the outside, which should be good news for their rivalry affair versus current Group C leaders China (2-0) on Monday, September 14, at 12:00 PM (Manila time).
Barefield had 11 points, while Bates made three points and nine rebounds as they helped out in Gilas’ 11-0 start into the ball game to set the tone early. Calvin Oftana, who starred against the Bahrainis with 31 points, finished in double figures once more with 12 points for the Filipino dribblers.
Leading Kazakhstan, on the other hand, was Anton Bykov with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the loss, which is already their second in as many outings.
Askar Maydekin and Abat Marat had 12 points apiece, while Konstantin Neff added for the side from Central Asia, which will next face Bahrain on Monday.
It will be a battle between teams coming off massive losses. The team from the Gulf absorbed a 105-59 beatdown to China earlier in the day.
The Scores:
Philippines (109) – Ahanmisi 22, Bolick 20, Oftana 12, Barefield 11, Lucero 10, Baltazar 6, Arana 6, Abarrientos 6, Trollano 5, Nocum 4, Ganuelas-Rosser 4, Bates 3.
Kazakhstan (78) – Bykov 15, Marat 12, Maydekin 12, Neff 11, Rabchenyuk 9, Murzagaliyev 8, Fedchenko 7, Ivanov 2, Sakhipov 2, Severgin 0, Marchuk 0, Kuanov 0.
Quarterscores: 18-15, 50-37, 82-66, 109-78.
