Gilas Pilipinas Youth were shackled by world no. 19 Russia, suffering a 64-92 loss in the final game of pool play in the 2019 FIBA Under-19 World Cup, Wednesday morning (Manila time) at the Heraklion University Hall in Greece.
After going winless in the preliminary stages, the Philippines will take on Pool D’s top team and world no. 4 Serbia in the round of 16 later in the day at 11:15 pm (Manila time).
Argentina topped Group C with a pristine 3-0 record and are followed by Russia at 2-1. Host Greece ended the stage with a 1-2 slate.
The big guns of the Philippines were marked men by the Russians.
Kai Sotto, who averaged 15.0 points, 9.0 rebounds, and 4.5 blocks prior to this game, was held down to just 14 points and seven rebounds. The 7-foot-1 big man still tallied six blocks.
Dave Ildefonso, who had 22 points and 10 rebounds against Argentina two days ago, had 14 points, six rebounds, five assists, and two steals but went just 5-of-14 from the field.
With the two locked down, the young Filipinos trailed by double-digits for most of the game.
The Russians were just too dominant all throughout the game, shooting an efficient 58.7-percent from inside the paint while knocking down nine triples in the contest. In addition, Russia dominated the board, 53-36, that led to 30 second-chance points.
In comparison, the Filipinos were cold from the field, knocking down just two of their 19 attempts from deep.
Russia would lead by as much as 30 points in the game, 89-59, with 1:11 left.
Aleksandr Ershov led Russia with 21 points on 10-of-13 shooting. Big man Nikita Mikhailovskii tallied 16 points on four triples and 10 rebounds.
The Scores:
Philippines 64 – Sotto 14, Ildefonso 14, Tamayo 12, Amsali 9, Abadiano 5, Spencer 5, Chiu 3, Fortea 2, Oczon 0, Torres 0, Panopio 0.
Russia 92 – Ershov 21, Mikhailovskii 16, Kvitkovskikh 12, Dolinin 10, Kadoshnikov 9, Petenev 8, Vedishchev 6, Shcherbenev 5, Konovalov 3, Sorokin 2, Baryshev 0, Goldin 0.
Quarterscores: 15-28, 30-49, 50-72, 64-92.
