Gilas Pilipinas continued its mastery of Chinese Taipei to pick up its most impressive win in the FIBA World Cup 2019 Asian Qualifiers by far, 93-71, Friday night at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium in Taiwan.
The Philippines improved to 4-1 in Group B, while Chinese Taipei is 1-4. The Filipinos have been winning over the Taiwanese over the last five years, or since the latter stunned the former back in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship.
“Well I think it was just due to some good preparations,” said Gilas head coach Chot Reyes. “Coming into this ball game we knew Chinese Taipei will start strong… We just stayed with our game plan. Our second unit played well.”
June Mar Fajardo continued to torment Chinese Taipei as he top-billed for Gilas with 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Jayson Castro had 15 points, while Terrence Romeo chipped in 14 markers and six assists.
Andray Blatche – who only had six points against Chinese Taipei last November – was in his element, as he produced 13 points, 12 rebounds, and five assists. He was the most efficient for Gilas, with a plus-26 rating.
Just like their encounter back in the first window, Gilas started slow and shot poorly early. Its counterpart, meanwhile, went on a roll and even began the bout with a 12-4 lead in the 6:02-mark of the first quarter.
But the Filipino cagers gained their touch in the second frame. From a 21-30 deficit with 7:46 to go, Gilas roared to a staggering 23-7 blitzkrieg – capped by a Matthew Wright wing triple – to end the half in their favor, 44-37.
From there, Gilas were comfortably in the driver’s seat. With Fajardo heating up on offense through his power moves inside, the Philippines was able to hike its lead to 15 points, 62-47, with 3:40 remaining in the third canto.
Chinese Taipei still fought and closed within six late in the third, but that proved to be its last hurrah. Gabe Norwood sank a baseline jumper before the frame’s end, and a Romeo trey to open the fourth quarter restored the lead, 71-60.
Gilas then kept pounding its counterparts after that. As a result, the Filipinos’ lead swelled to as huge as 22 points, 93-71, thanks to Jio Jalalon’s floater with 1:10 left to play, which was eventually the game’s final score.
Import Quincy Davis III led the Taiwanese with 17 points and seven rebounds with three blocks. Veteran Lu Cheng-ju provided 13 points, while Chen Ying-chun chipped in 11 markers, three rebounds, and three assists.
Gilas will next face Australia on Monday, July 2, at the Philippine Arena in Bulacan for the top spot of Group B. The Boomers lost to the Akatsuki Five of Japan earlier, 78-79, in one of the biggest upsets in this third window.
The Scores:
Philippines (93) – Fajardo 22, Castro 15, Romeo 14, Blatche 13, Norwood 8, Wright 6, Rosario 5, Jalalon 2, Pogoy 0, Aguilar 0, Abueva 0, Malicsi 0.
Chinese Taipei (71) – Davis 17, Lu 13, Chen Y. 11, Chou Y. 9, Chen K. 9, Yang 7, Tseng 3, Chou P. 2, Liu 0, Chiang 0, Su 0, Creighton 0.
Quarterscores: 16-19, 44-37, 68-60, 93-71.
