Batang Gilas got demolished by Chinese Taipei, 88-74

The Philippine national youth basketball team failed to have a winning start to its FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship campaign as Batang Gilas got demolished by Chinese Taipei, 88-74, on Friday (early Saturday morning in Manila) in Tehran, Iran.

Jonas Tibayan led the way for the Filipinos with 15 points, but no other Batang Gilas breached the double digit mark. Rendell Lee and JV Gallego had nine markers apiece while John Bryle Bahio scored eight points and eight boards.

Fran Yu and team captain Jolo Mendoza each made seven points. Joshua Sinclair tallied six points and nine rebounds.

After a tight opening period, Batang Gilas was shackled by Chinese Taipei which suddenly broke the game wide open.

The Taiwanese turned a mere 19-18 lead into a 40-20 cushion after just five minutes into the second quarter. Batang Gilas trailed by 20 points at the half, 49-29.

After being down by as much as 25, Batang Gilas showed some fight in the fourth quarter after cutting the deficit to just 12, 83-71, thanks to a 10-2 spurt with 3:07 remaining.

But the Taiwanese responded with a triple to douse the uprising.

The Filipinos have a chance to bounce back when they face Iraq on Saturday evening.

Batang Gilas is hoping to reach the top three to advance to the FIBA World Under-19 Championship next year. -interaksyon.com

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