Ethan Aguas played the hero for Gilas Pilipinas Boys, nailing the game-winner as the Philippines survived a late collapse to beat Chinese-Taipei, 89-88, on Thursday at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium in Ahmedabad, India.
Down 88-87 with 2.6 seconds remaining, Aguas, who recently transferred from UE to Letran, barreled his way inside for the go-ahead basket.
Chinese-Taipei had one last chance, but Liu Tingkuan missed his pull-up jumper as the Philippines held on for the victory.
The win put Gilas level with Australia atop their group after the Aussies routed Thailand, 102-32, earlier in the day.
The Philippines will next face Australia on Saturday at 1:00 PM.
(C) FIBA
Gilas got off to a furious start, with Prince Cariño powering his way inside and JB Cagurungan firing from deep. The FEU duo combined for 17 of the Philippines’ 31 points as Gilas took a 31-20 lead after the opening quarter.
The lead grew to as high as 26 points, 55-29, early in the third quarter before Chinese-Taipei mounted a furious comeback.
With Gilas still ahead, 83-68, midway through the final frame, Chinese-Taipei went on a huge run to cut the deficit to 86-87 with 1:35 remaining. A costly play by Sizco Roquid then gave Chinese-Taipei an opportunity to take the lead with 12 seconds left.
After a Liu miss, Roquid went for a layup instead of burning time, allowing Carter Coleman to score on the other end and put Chinese-Taipei ahead, 88-87, with 6.6 seconds remaining.
Then came Aguas’ heroics.
Aguas finished with 19 points and 10 rebounds, while Cagurungan led the way with 21 points, all coming from beyond the arc.
Cariño and Bruce Tubongbanua added 10 points apiece, with the former also grabbing nine rebounds.
Liu led Chinese-Taipei with 23 points, while Coleman finished with 22.
The Scores:
Philippines 89 – Cagurungan 21, Aguas 16, Tubongbanua 10, Cariño 10, Moral 7, Gish 7, Roquid 6, Chio 6, Dayco-Green 4, Atacador 2, Pasinos 0, Lacson 0.
Chinese-Taipei 88 – Liu 23, Coleman 22, Huang J. 15, Chen 7, Huang S. 6, Jhou 5, Weng 4, Chuang 3, Xing 3, Yang 0, Pan 0.
Quarter Scores: 31-12, 53-29, 74-59, 89-88.
