After being cut a year ago, Kieffer Alas made sure to have a debut to remember for Gilas Boys.
Alas set the tone early, leading the Philippines’ 94-52 romp of Malaysia to open their campaign in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship-SEABA Qualifiers on Monday evening at GOR Kertajaya in Surabaya, Indonesia.
The De La Salle-Zobel standout fired 22 of his 27 points in the first half, outscoring the entire Malaysian team all by his lonesome.
Malaysia only put up 10 points in the opening frame and followed it up with a two-point second quarter.
Gilas led 46-12 at the half.
Mason Amos’ younger brother CJ found his touch as well in the contest, finishing with 16 points on 5-of-6 shooting from the field.
Alas’ future Zobel teammate Irus Chua also fired 16 points to go with eight rebounds to lead the Philippines’ bench mob.
All but one Gilas player scored in the contest.
Gilas will next face Thailand in this round robin tournament that has two slots in the Asian Championship at stake on Tuesday.
Ivan Chia and Jian Wei Tan were the sole double-digit scorers for Malaysia with 12 and 11 markers, respectively.
Malaysia takes on Indonesia also on Tuesday.
The Scores:
Philippines 94 – Alas 27, Chua 16, Amos 16, Williams 7, Morales 6, Velasquez 6, Daja 4, Ludovice 4, Hachuela 4, Gomez 2, Espinas 2, Diao 0.
Malaysia 52 – Chia 12, Tan JW 11, Hoo 7, Chua 7, Kho 6, Lee 5, Tan JJ 2, Chee 2, Khoo 0, Juan 0.
Quarterscores: 23-10, 46-12, 71-37, 94-52.
