SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga –Gilas Pilipinas Youth used practically the entire halftime break like it was the one trailing Indonesia, coming out of the dugout long after the visitors had been shooting around before the start of the second half.
The Filipino teenage dribblers needed every second of it and more to regroup.
Gilas Youth survived a scare against its regional rival, hacking out a 77-68 victory to emerge as the remaining undefeated team in the Fiba U16 Asia Cup SEABA qualifiers on Wednesday night.
Batang Gilas needed a late run to shake off a worthy challenge by the Indonesians to pull off the win in front of a relieved pro-Filipino crowd at the packed Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.
Prince Cariño led five players who scored in double figures for Gilas with 15 points, as the nationals grabbed their fourth straight win, while handing Indonesia its first loss in four games.
Gilas Youth needed this
Gilas Youth led most of the way, but the looks on their faces seemed they were down big as they failed to break away from the Indonesians unlike their last three blowout wins, the last a 64-point beatdown against Singapore last Monday.
“I feel great. You know why? Because I wanted the boys to experience those kinds of things,” Gilas Youth coach LA Tenorio said.
“I reminded them: natatambakan lang namin mga kalaban namin, pero it’s really our discipline and our defense kaya nakakapunta kami dun. But today, umalis kami dun sa sistema namin.”
“But I feel good,” he added. “Para maintindihan ng mga bata na hindi ganun ka-dali ‘tong tournament na ‘to. Kasi past three games, feeling nila, kayang-kaya mga kalaban eh.”
The Indonesians came to within four points, 65-61, before Gilas scored seven unanswered points, capped by a Cariño putback to give them a 72-61 lead, enough cushion to hold off their opponents.
Cariño already had nine points in the first quarter after scoring just four total against Singapore, and added six rebounds in 24 minutes.
Travis Pascual chipped in 13 points, although needing 17 attempts to get to his total, five boards, two assists, and one steal off the bench, while captain Jolo Pascual returned to action and finished with 12 points, two assists, one board, and one block in 21 minutes.
Gab delos posted a double-double of 11 rebounds and 10 points, on top of five assists, three blocks, and one steal, while Everaigne Cruz was the other player in double-digit scoring with 10 points alongside seven rebounds, one assist, and one steal.
Benjamin Piet Hemusi proved to be a thorn on the side of Gilas, scoring whenever Indonesia needed a basket and ending up with a game-high 23 points on 10-of-16 shooting, three steals, two assists, one rebound, and one block in 24 minutes.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 77 – Cariño 15, T. Pascual 13, J. Pascual 12, Delos Reyes 10, Cruz 10, Hallare 5, Cabanero 4, Antolin 4, Lumague 4, Tan-Chi 0, Miranda 0, Restificar 0
INDONESIA 68 – Hemusi 23, Naranatha 11, Yabe 10, Sutanto 6, Sebastian 6, Christiano 5, Hadiputra 4, Dhirenda 2, Gilbert 1, Hadi 0, Setiawan 0, Surya 0
Quarters: 22-18, 32-28, 57-47, 77-68
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