Batang Gilas Pilipinas suffered a late fourth quarter meltdown and sent their title hopes in tatters as they bowed down to South Korea, 93-85, in their quarterfinal match-up in the FIBA Asia U18 Championship 2016 in Tehran, Iran.
From a 7-all knot with less than eight minutes remaining in the first quarter, Batang Gilas pulled an 11-1 run sparked by Jonas Tibayan to go up by double digits, 18-8, in the 6:07 mark. But the Koreans came back, utilizing their perimeter game and high-low sets to trail by just one, 29-28, with less than a minute to go. The Philippines still managed to end the quarter in their favor after a Tibayan jumper, 31-28.
Korea started well in the next frame and even snatched the lead, 34-33, after a Seunghui Han jumper with 8:16 left. From there, both teams traded baskets, and the tight affair saw 5 deadlocks and 6 lead changes. Batang Gilas went up 47-43 behind baskets from Joshua Sinclair and Gian Mamuyac with less than three minutes left, but Korean guard Jiwon Park hit back-to-back baskets to end the half in a 47-all tie.
The Koreans, in the third quarter, took a three-point lead, 52-49, after another Park jumper with less than eight minutes remaining. Batang Gilas, meanwhile, responded with a 9-0 run anchored by Tibayan and Fran Yu to lead by six, 58-52, in the 5:23 mark. But the Koreans were too hard to stave off, crawling behind to go ahead 67-65 behind the efforts of Yungi Ha, Junghyun Lee, and Minuk Park. John Gallego’s jumper in the buzzer closed the third in another tie at 67.
Down by four, 71-67, early in the deciding frame, Batang Gilas stormed back and took a seven-point lead, 80-73, after a Gallego jumper with 4:10 to go. Korea fought back hard, using their strength both inside and outside to take the lead once more, 82-80. Batang Gilas had chances to be ahead again, but Korea’s resiliency on both ends of the floor paid them well, outscoring their Filipino counterparts 11-5 down the stretch to barge into the semis and oust the Philippines.
Han paced Korea and led all scorers with 24 points. Ha had 20, while J. Park and M. Park had 14 and 13, respectively. Batang Gilas, on the other hand, were led by Jolo Mendoza’s 19.
With the loss, the Philippines is now officially out of title contention. But, they will still have another match tomorrow, Saturday, July 30, in the classification rounds against the losing team between China and Iran.
The Scores:
South Korea (93) – Han 24, Ha 20, Park M 14, Park J 13, Lee 9, Yang 9, Shin 2, Yun 2, Kim H 0, Kim J 0, Seo 0, Yang 0.
Philippines (85) – Mendoza 19, Carino 18, Tibayan 13, Gallego 13, Yu 8, Bahio 6, Mamuyac 4, Sinclair 4, Pagsanjan 0, Madrigal 0, Flores 0, Lee 0.
Quarterscores: 31-28, 47-47, 67-67, 93-85.
