GILAS Pilipinas Youth was defeated by Japan, 80-75, on Saturday to be relegated to the battle for seventh in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in Ahmedabad, India.
The Nationals put up a fight, but just couldn’t find the needed breakthrough to overcome a 14-point deficit.
Japan raced to a 25-11 lead in the first quarter, and neutralized a number of threats by the Philippines in the second half.
The closest the Filipinos got was at 67-63 thanks to JB Cagurungan's triple, one of just three makes from deep for them, only to see Aru Takahashi respond with a trey of his own to increase the Japanese lead to 70-63.
Gilas' last goal
Chog Moral top-scored again for Gilas Youth with 21 points, as they now await the loser of the Iran-Chinese Taipei matchup.
Patrick Pasinos also had 10 points, six rebounds, and three assists, and George Green had 10 points in the loss.
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