Gilas Pilipinas Youth make it two in a row in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers, using tenacious defense to frustrate Thailand.
Gilas Pilipinas U16 Men learned their lesson from the slow start in their first game of the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers, scoring a second straight win with a dominant 87-42 decision against Thailand on Sunday.
From a shaky start against Vietnam, the young Filipino ballers waxed hot early in their match against fellow Day 1 winners Thailand.
Andwele Cabanero attacked the rim, while Jhustin Hallare and Prince Carino made early threes to set the tone early for the Philippines.
However, more than the offense, it was their choking defense that set them apart.
Gilas forced nine turnovers from Thailand, who also missed all of their 19 field goal attempts in a first quarter that ended in favor of the Philippines, 31-1.
Thailand would get themselves going in the second quarter, even winning it 19-16, which quickly became another teaching moment for head coach LA Tenorio.
“We reminded them during halftime that moments like the first quarter will come, like we could do nothing wrong,” he said after the game.
“But the moment that we think the game is going to be easy, when we lose our focus, when we stop paying attention to our discipline and the little things we need to do, our opponents can bounce back.”
“We need to respect the game and respect our opponents. It’s natural. In the game, nakita nila na kaya yung kalaban kaya nang-gigil pero that’s not what I want to teach them. What we want them to learn is that we always need to play the game the right way,” Tenorio added.
The halftime pep talk worked out well for Gilas as they got back their defensive groove in the third period, limiting Thailand to nine points.
There was no let-up from the Philippines even if their second win was already in the bag as they pounded Thailand and built their largest lead at 45 points, just before the game’s final minute.
For the game, Thailand shot only 16 percent from the field while committing 21 turnovers.
On offense, Gilas was far from its best, making only 40 percent from the field They had uncharacteristic misses in the shaded area but made up for it by dominating the rebounding battle 77 to 52.
Gab Delos Reyes led Gilas with 16 points while adding nine rebounds off the bench. Carino chipped in 15 points, and Cabanero was named the Best Player of the Game with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and three steals in just 16 minutes.
Travis Pascual had an all-around performance with six points, nine rebounds, and seven assists, Everaigne Cruz added 12 points off the bench, while Jhello Lumague was a beast of the boards with 15 rebonds.
No player from Thailand scored in double figures as they also opted to rest Ronnie Allsop, their top scorer against Malaysia. This could be in preparation for their game against Indonesia, which could very well be for a spot in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup.
In the first two games of Day 2, Indonesia stayed undefeated as they defeated Malaysia 67-45, while Vietnam scored a bounce back win as they outlasted Singapore 89-83.