On the day that Gilas lost to New Zealand in the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers, San Miguel ace Jericho Cruz also absorbed a defeat with his Guam team against Australia.
Jericho Cruz and Guam put up a gallant stand before bowing to Australia, 80-93, in their FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers Thursday, Feb. 26.
Cruz dropped nine points, a rebound, two assists and a steal for his team, which kept in step with the Boomers for three quarters at the University of Guam Field House.
They thus remained winless in three outings, dimming their hopes of reaching the second round of the qualifiers.
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Elijah Pepper scored 16 of his 23 points in Australia’s 29-16 onslaught in the second period to build a 46-33 cushion, which it preserved until the final horn.
Guam, on the other hand, leaned on CJ Freeman and Takumi Simon, who combined for nine of the team’s 13 three-pointers.
Freeman topscored with 25 points, while Simon had 19.
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Meanwhile, Chinese Taipei shocked South Korea, 77-75.
China also logged a victory against Japan, 87-80.
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Chinese Taipei scored a historic first win against the East Asian juggernaut in over 15 years, or since prevailing 70-65 in their FIBA Asia Cup encounter in 2009.
It was also Chinese Taipei's first victory in the qualifiers after a pair of losses to Japan in the opening round.
Brandon Gilbeck led the team with 18 points, 15 rebounds, a steal and three blocks, while Benson Lin had the same number of points.
Over at the Okinawa Arena, the Chinese dribblers recovered from a slow start to outgun Japan, 25-9, in the third period for their first win in three games.
Hu Jinqiu spearheaded China’s attack with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while Sanning Liao had 16 points.
Japan and Korea, though, still lead Group B with identical 2-1 records.
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Like most sportswriters, Jan Ballesteros once dreamed of becoming a professional hooper. But he learned the hard way that it’s not for everyone.
He continues to be involved in the sport he loves, but this time as a member of the PBA Press Corps. Aside from primarily covering the PBA, he is also assigned to cover Gilas Pilipinas.