Gilas fends off Chinese Taipei B to sweep hosts

MANILA, Philippines (UPDATED) – Gilas Pilipinas controlled the tempo from the begining for the second straight game and it resulted in another victory, 93-82, against the host’s second team Chinese Taipei B or Taiwan White of the 2017 William Jones Cup on Monday, July 17 in Taipei, Taiwan.

The Philippine national team swept both of Taiwan’s home teams, outclassing the notorious 3-point shooting team in its own game.

Gilas has now settled into its offensive play and locked down better on defense for two consecutive wins after dropping the opener versus Canada.

Mike Myers put up a double-double effort of 14 points and 14 rebounds while gunner Matthew Wright continues to be a primary source of offense for the Filipinos with his game-high 21 points on 5-of-9 shooting from deep coming off the bench.

RR Pogoy had a 15-point efford despite fouling out late, as Jiovani Jalalon flourished in his playmaking role with 13 markers, 5 assists, 5 rebounds, and a steal.

Kiefer Ravena had 10 points, 7 assists, two steals, and a block, while Christian Standhardinger registered 6 points and 9 rebounds.

Ying-Chun Chen led Taiwan White with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists. Kyle Barone added 16 markers and 12 boards.

Gilas was quite unsteady in the opening quarter with 6 turnovers but they promptly recovered in the second period and went on to register only 13 turnovers. The Philippine team did not let up the pressure with a 9-0 run to open the third quarter, and it continued until the end when they built 11-point leads.

Ray Parks was pulled out from the 12-man lineup for this game as he nursed a mild ankle sprain from Sunday’s game. Dexter Aseron, the team’s physical therapist, told Rappler there is still some pain in the ankle with mild swelling.

Parks will be assessed again Tuesday morning, July 18 to see if he can play when Gilas faces Japan at 1 pm. 

Scores:

Philippines (93): Wright 21, Pogoy 15, Myers 14, Jalalon 13, Ravena 10, Ferrer 8, Standhardinger 6, Cruz 6, Vosotros 0, Pessumal 0, Paras 0, Daquioag 0.

Chinese Taipei B (82): Ying-Chun 17, Barone 16, Tsung-Han 13, Guan-Quan 9, Kai-Yan 8, You-Che 5, Li-Huang 5, Hung-Han 4, Ren-Hao 3, Shih-En 2, Chia-Chun 0.

Quarter scores: 18-20, 44-44, 69-62, 93-82.

– Rappler.com