Batang Gilas drops Kazakhstan to contend for 5th place

MANILA, Philippines – Batang Gilas remained in the hunt for 5th place in the FIBA Asia U18 Championships after an 86-74 drubbing of Kazakhstan, Wednesday, August 27 at Doha, Qatar.

Paul Desiderio led the charge for the young Filipinos scattering 19 points throughout the game while hauling down 8 rebounds and dishing out an assist.

The Philippines was in control from the start of the game going on a 10-3 run in the first 4 minutes of the opening quarter.

Kazakhstan came as close as 5 points, 37-32, at the 3:34 mark of the 2nd period but Gilas unleashed a 17-6 run to cap the first half with 16-point lead, 58-34.

Every player fielded in by Batang Gilas scored as they continued to control the game in the second half.

Aside from Desiderio, four other players scored in double-digits for the Philippines. Ranbill Tongco, who has been a consistent source of fire power, scored 13 points while Mark Dyke, Jose Go, and Kobe Paras all scored 10 points apiece.

Alexandr Danilchenko starred for Kazakhstan in this game with 18 points, 8 rebounds, and 2 assists.

Batang Gilas will play its final game on Thursday, August 28 when they face Japan for 5th place in the tournament.

Scores:

PHI (86) – Desiderio 19, Tongco 13, Dyke 10, Go 10, Paras 10, Caracut 5, Yu 5, Santillan 4, Mosqueda 4, Black 2, Escoto 2, Bienes 2

KAZ (74) – Danilchenko 18, Kirilin 17, Kadyr 13, Aitkali 10, Agabek 7, Tinyayev 6, Litvinenko 3

Quarter scores: 28-20, 54-38, 67-61, 86-74

– Rappler.com