BATANG Gilas soothed its wounded pride by trouncing Thailand, 81-46, on Friday in the classification phase of the Fiba Under-16 basketball tournament in Indonesia.
The Filipinos, fresh from a shock quarterfinal loss to Japan the day before, went on a 33-9 tear in the second quarter for a 56-25 lead at halftime at the Britama Arena in Jakarta.
The Filipino teens now take on the winner of the Lebanon-Kuwait match for fifth place in this age-group tournament where they dealt China its first ever loss, only to miss out on the semifinals for the first time since 2009.
Juan Gomez de Liano led the charge with 16 points on 4-of-9 three-point shooting with nine rebounds. Rap Escalona rediscovered his outside shooting going 3 of 4 from beyond the arc for 11 points.
Sam Belangel, Dave Ildefonso and Will Gozum each scored 10 points for the Gilas cause.
No Thai player was able to score in double figures as they struggled to score in the face of the Pinoy’s defense, shooting below 28 percent from the field
Source: Spin.phRead more at http://www.spin.ph/basketball/fiba/news/batang-gilas-beats-thailand-81-46-for-fifth-place-finish-in-2015-u-16-tourney#LhE3xDhCs0lVF3P2.99
