The Philippines now leads Group C
MANILA, Philippines – A day after making quick work of Bahrain, the Philippines’ national under-16 basketball team faced a tougher challenge but still managed to come away with a one-sided victory over Thailand, 70-51, on Friday, October 30, at the Britama Arena in Jakarta, Indonesia.
The win improved the team, called Batang Gilas, to 2-0 in the 2015 FIBA Asia Under-16 championship.
Kris Harvey Pagsanjan and Samjosef Belangel led the winning team win 10 points each, while Jonas Raphael Tibayan finished with 9 points. Batang Gilas shot just 38.4% from the field and missed all 16 of their attempts from downtown, but out-rebounded their opponents 63-42 and forced them to 31.3% shooting, including a 2-of-26 display from downtown.
The Philippines now leads Group C of the tourney, where Bahrain and Thailand and tied for 2nd and 3rd with 0-1 records. All 3 teams will immediately advance to the next round thanks to the withdrawal from the competition of North Korea.
In the next round, the trio will be placed in Group F along with the top 3 teams from Group D (China, Korea, Iraq, and India). The Philippines’ next game will come in the second round.
The top 3 finishers of the 2015 FIBA Asia under-16 tourney will earn spots in the 2016 FIBA Under-17 World Championship in Spain. – Rappler.com
(c) Naveen Ganglani
