TAIPEI – Gilas Pilipinas overcame a slow start and the hot shooting of Chinese Taipei to win on the road, 93-71, on Friday night in the Fiba Basketball World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.
Gilas went on a 15-4 finish to the second quarter to take a 44-37 halftime lead while June Mar Fajardo led a 10-0 run in the third period to put Gilas on its way to a fourth win in five outings in the home-and-away qualifiers.
Gilas trailed 12-4 at the start and Chinese Taipei hit seven three-pointers in the first half to build leads as big as as nine points in front of a packed home crowd.
Fajardo, however, dominated in and around the paint to turn the tables on Taipei and put the Philippines in a share of the Group B lead with Australia, which lost its first game in Asia, 79-78, at the hands of Japan.
Fajardo finished with 22 points while converting nine of his 12 shots from the field. Jayson Castro added 15 points while Terrence Romeo, in his first game back with Gilas, was also impressive, contributing 14 points and six assists.
Andray Blatche was also a huge factor in the comeback win, contributing 13 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and two blocks for Gilas.
Cheng Ju Lu's three-pointer enabled the hosts to take a 27-18 lead. But Gilas slowly turned the tide and finally took the lead on a lay-up by Andray Blatche, 41-36, before a Matthew Wright trey hiked the margin to 44-37 at halftime.
Fajardo scored back-to-back baskets at the post then hit one of two free throws while Castro converted on a fastbreak lay-up for a 13-point lead.
Chinese Taipei was able to trim the gap to six points, 66-60, but Wright hit another triple to halt the host team's momentum.
Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas (SBP) president Al Panlilio, Manny V. Pangilinan, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial and members of the PBA board were on hand to join Filipino OFWs here to support Gilas Pilipinas.
Quincy Davis had 17 points and seven rebounds while Lu had 13 points while going 4-of-8 from three-point range.
The scores:
Philippines 93 – Fajardo 22, Castro 15, Romeo 14, Blatche 13, Norwood 8, Pogoy 8, Wright 6, Rosario 5, Jalalon 2, Abueva 0, Aguilar 0, Maliksi 0.
Chinese-Taipei 71 – Davis 17, Lu C.J. 13, Y.C. Chen 11, K.C. Chen 9, Y.H. Chou 9, C.M. Yang 7, W.T. Tseng 3, P.C. Chou 2, Creighton 0, Y.A. Chiang 0, C. Liu 0, I.C. Su 0.
Quarterscores: 16-19; 44-37; 68-60; 93-71.
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