BATANG Gilas bowed to China, 85-55, on Saturday and fell to battle for seventh spot in the Fiba Asia Under-18 Championship in Tehran, Iran.
The Chinese cagers took command, 21-10, and never let up on the way to clinching a place in the battle for fifth place.
China lost to Iran, 62-59, in the quarterfinals to drop to the consolation phase.
The Philippines, which lost to Korea in the quarterfinals, will play for seventh place against the loser of the Chinese Taipei-India match.
Ziming Fan chalked up 17 points and 11 rebounds for the Chinese cagers as they look to salvage fifth place after their run of three straight crowns ended.
Theo Flores scored 12 points, while Rendell Lee added 10 points for Batang Gilas, who played without Jolo Mendoza and Joshua Sinclair.
The scores:
China 85 — Z. Fan 17, J. Man 11, Y. Wu 10, X. Li 10, R. Du 9, J. Taruike 9, Y. Wang 7, Z. Liu 5, M. Hu 3, Z. Zhang 2, J. Tang 2.
Philippines 55 — Flores 12, Lee 10, Carino 8, Gallego 6, Mamuyac 4, Madrigal 4, Pagsanjan 3, Yu 3, Tibayan 3, Bahio 2.
Quarterscores: 21-10; 42-33; 53-44; 85-55.
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