THE Philippine Under-16 team got off to a rousing start in its Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Championships campaign, scoring a runaway 94-52 win over Malaysia on Monday night in Surabaya.
Kiefer Louie Alas went 4-of-4 from beyond the three-point arc to finish with 27 points in his first foray as a national team member and lead the Batang Gilas to the 42-point blowout.
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The Filipinos held the Malaysians to just two points in the second quarter to pull away for good.
Irus Chua also had a good national team debut with 16 points, so did Cletz Davis Amos who lhad the same output.
Later in the night, Thailand eked out a 64-62 win over host Indonesia to keep the Philippines company atop the standings.
The Filipinos will battle the Thais on Tuesday for one of two berths at stake in the FIBA U16 Asian Championships set in September in Doha, Qatar.
The scores
Philippines (94) - Alas 27, Amos 16, Chua 16, Williams 7, Morales 6, Velasquez 6, Daja 4, Hachuela 4, Gabriel 4, Espinas 2, Gomez 2, Diao 0.
Malaysia (52) - Chia 12, JW Tan 11, Hoo 7, Chua 7, Kho 6, Lee 5, JH Tan 2, Chee 2, Khoo 0, Juan 0, Goh 0, Lai 0.
Quarterscores: 23-10; 46-12; 71-37; 94-52
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