Now fielding a complete team, the Gilas Pilipinas Cadets proved to be too much for the Mapua University Cardinals, 97-78, Monday afternoon at the Filoil Flying V Centre in San Juan City.
With the win, the 23 for 2023 Gilas Cadets are now 3-5 in Group A of the 2018 Filoil Flying V Preseason Cup, presented by Chooks-to-Go. On the other hand, Mapua dropped to an even 3-3.
“By the way it looks, we are now a team,” quipped Cadets head coach Jong Uichico, as they now have floor generals Robert Bolick and Matt Nieto, together with Thirdy Ravena and Troy Rike.
After leading for the majority of the first half, the Cadets let their guard down early in the third frame. Daniel Aguirre and Eric Jabel took advantage of this, eventually knotting things up at 57-all with 4:37 left in the third frame.
Then Uichico plugged in a lineup that featuresdthree bigs (Isaac Go, Kai Sotto, and Carl Tamayo) together with Bolick and J-jay Alejandro.
“We just experimented on things like playing three bigs. It worked. We’re just trying to make use of all the players,” shared Uichico.
With that line-up, the Cadets were able to break the game wide open, with Bolick embracing the role as lead scorer. Bolick scored 10 of his 13 points in a 24-6 run that broke any hopes of the Cardinals.
“Bolick delivered and Matt also,” remarked Uichico, as Nieto had nine points.
Debuting Rike had 11 points and eight rebounds, while Kobe Paras chipped in 12 markers.
Cedric Pelayo and Jabel paced Mapua with 14 points each. Former Red Robin Lawrence Victoria had 12 points and eight boards as well.
The Cadets end their campaign on Tuesday, June 12, at 4:30pm.
The Scores:
Gilas 97 – Bolick 13, Paras 12, Rike 11, Nieto 9, Ravena 8, Tuffin 8, Tamayo 6, Alejandro 5, Sotto 5, Gozum 5, Tratter 4, Go 4, Tolentino A. 4, Mocon 3, Tolentino V. 0
Mapua 78 – Pelayo 14, Jabel 14, Victoria 12, Aguirre 11, Lugo 9, Biteng 6, Bonifacio 5, Bunag 5, Gamboa 2, Nocum 0, Pajarillo 0, Serrano 0
Quarterscores: 25-21, 49-38, 72-64, 97-78
