Gilas Boys bounce back from China loss with Kazakhstan drubbing 

MANILA, Philippines – After bowing to China in its opening assignment in the 2023 FIBA U16 Asian Championship, the Gilas Pilipinas Boys’ Under-16 team vented its ire on Kazakhstan with a 66-42 drubbing on Monday, September 18 (Tuesday, September 19, Manila time) at the Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall in Doha, Qatar. 

Second-generation player Kieffer Alas shone the brightest for Gilas Boys for the second straight outing as he followed up his 20-point performance against China with a double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds. 

Joaquin Ludovice backstopped Alas with 11 points, while 6-foot-4 big man Bonn Daja tallied a near double-double of 10 points and 8 rebounds in the Philippines’ 24-point bounce-back win.

With the score knotted at 33-all with under 5 minutes to play in the third frame, Noah Banal and Daja fired back-to-back triples to spearhead Gilas Boys’ massive 14-0 rally to close out the quarter.

After going just 1-of-11 from beyond the arc in the first half, the Filipinos found their groove from long distance as they cashed in five of their six three-point attempts in the decisive third period that saw the Philippines outscore Kazakhstan, 22-3, for a comfortable 47-33 cushion. 

The Kazakhs showed some signs of life in the fourth frame, cutting the deficit back to just 7 points with 6:32 remaining, 49-42, before the Filipinos unloaded another vicious 17-0 blast to finish the game in style. 

Alisher Muratuly was the lone double-digit scorer for Kazakhstan with 15 points on 6-of 18 clip from the field and 9 rebounds.

Gilas Boys will look to make it two in a row when they take on Malaysia on Wednesday, September 20 at 12:30 am, Manila time. 

The Score

Philippines 66 – Alas, Ludovice, Daja 10, Banal 6, Velasquez 6, Amos 6, Chua 3, Williams 2, Diao 2, Alegre 2, Morales 0, Gomez de Liaño 0.

Kazakhstan 42 – Muratuly 15, Issabayev 9, Maralbayev 8, Remezov 5, Talasbay 3, Doroshin 2, Sultan 0, Maligen 0, Pestov 0, Talgatov 0, Barabash 0, Tau 0.

Quarters: 17-18, 25-30, 47-33, 66-42. 

– Rappler.com