SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The LA Tenorio era at Gilas Pilipinas Youth is off to a winning start.
The Philippines bucked a slow start to whip Vietnam, 113-62, to open the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers with a statement win on Saturday at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.
Travis Pascual waxed hot with 16 points on seven-of-12 shooting, backed by team captain Jolo Pascual’s 14 points, four assists and three rebounds to gift Tenorio a debut win in his first tour of national team duty as head coach.
UAAP Season 87 Mythical Five member Jhustin Hallare also showed off his España flair with 10 markers and four dimes.
From one college powerhouse to another, Far Eastern University-Diliman’s Prince Carino also poured in a 14-point, 11-rebound performance.
Although the first-game jitters proved inevitable, the Gilas Youth skipper made sure to hold fort to deliver a memorable first act on home soil.
"Ang nararamdaman po namin ngayon, unang-una, excitement. Nu'ng una, nag-struggle po kami. Normal lang po talaga yan. It's our first game, kami naman lahat. First time namin dito sa SEABA," Pascual said.
"Nu'ng nakuha namin yung rhythm namin, yun, um-okay na rin po laro namin."
Not even a one-sided beating of Vietnam on his coaching debut is enough to please Tenorio as he sees plenty of room to take Gilas Youth's game up a notch.
"At at the end of the day, we have to respect the game. Ito lang ang gusto kong ituro sa kanila from the [opening] buzzer up to the [final] buzzer.
"Wwe still have a lot of things to look out sa mga lapses namin dito, turnovers and defensive lapses and of course, offensively. We cannot be satisfied with the things that we did today."
A quick 13-4 start for the young Vietnamese side forced Tenorio to call an early timeout less than three minutes into the ballgame.
From there, a full Philippine takeover ensued.
That early deficit lit a fire within the hosts who went on a 25-7 barrage to end the opening frame with a nine-point cushion.
The shots kept falling as the nationals kept pouncing on their hapless counterparts on 50 percent shooting in the first half.
Gilas Youth went on to outscore Vietnam in the second frame, 32 to 13.
Leading by as much as 45, Tenorio had the luxury of fielding all 12 of his players who shot a combined 43-of-77 from the field in the lopsided affair.
The Philippines also became the only team to hit the 100-point mark in the six-team field on opening day.
Amobg other staggering team numbers for the nationals were their game-high 62 rebounds, 36 assists and 24 steals.
Next up for Gilas Youth on Sunday is a Thailand team that also won its first assignment against Malaysia, 56-47.
The scores
Philippines (113) - T. Pascual 16, Carino 16, J. Pascual 14, Hallare 10, Lumagub 10, Cruz 9, De Los Reyes 9, Restificar 8, Cabanero 6, Antolin 6, Tan-Chi 6, Miranda 3.
Vietnam (62) - Nguyen H.M.K. 13, Nguyen L.C.N. 12, Vo 10, Nguyen M.A. 5, Vu 5, Luu 5, Bui 5, Phan 3, Nguyen H.Q.B. 2, Nhu 2, Angus 0, Do, 0.
Quarterscores: 29-20; 61-33; 83-50; 113-62.
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