GILAS Pilipinas needed the game's first 20 minutes to shake off the high from the thrilling win over arch-rival Korea and finally buckle down to work.
The Filipino youngsters got their act together in the second half as it downed Timnas by 25 points, 76-51, to remain undefeated in the 2021 Fiba Asia Cup on Friday at Angeles University Foundation Gym in Angeles City.
Starting guard Dwight Ramos was sensational anew as he was all over the floor with his 10 points, 12 rebounds, three steals, and one assist, doing the dirty work to make up for his woeful 4-of-11 shooting from the field.
Justine Baltazar found his touch from afar, going 2-of-5 from deep as he dropped 11 points, nine boards, a steal, and a block to help Gilas shrug off a sluggish first half (30-22) and finally break away in the third period.
The victory kept Gilas on top of Group A with its 5-0 card ahead of a rematch against Korea (3-1) on Sunday, where the group's leadership will be at stake.
But more than that, the Koreans will be looking for payback after losing an 81-78 heartbreaker to the hosts just last Wednesday on SJ Belangel's game-winning three-pointer at the buzzer.
Caught in a close 35-31 affair, Gilas made the most of the twin tower combo of Ange Kouame and Kai Sotto as it went on a 13-0 blast to grab a 48-31 lead, capped off by a Lebron Lopez putback with 2:39 left.
Kouame poured 11 points and five rebounds,while Kai Sotto had seven and seven, including a two-handed jam off an assist from RJ Abarrientos with 3:41 left as they wore out Indonesia naturalized player Lester Prosper.
Abarrientos also weaved his on-court wizardry with nine points, six assists, and two steals, while another teen, Lebron Lopez, had a memorable debut with his eight points, five rebounds, an assist, a steal, and a block in just nine minutes of action.
Tamayo injury a dampener for Gilas Pilipinas
Carl Tamayo made successive treys for all of his six points that made it a 21-point game for Gilas, 59-38. The University of the Philippines commit, however, had to exit the game in the final 7:47 after hurting his left ankle on a rebound play against Arki Wisnu.
It was the same theme to the Filipinos' 100-70 trouncing of Indonesia in Jakarta back in February 2020, where it was bogged by a slow start before opening the floodgates in the final two quarters.
Prosper, a former PBA import with Terrafirma, was the only player to get in double digits for Indonesia with 22 points to go with eight rebounds and four blocks.
Timnas dropped to 1-4 in the group and will face Thailand on Sunday for the final assignments for the two teams. That game could very well decide which nation will snag third place in the group.
Indonesia is already qualified as the Fiba Asia Cup hosts of the continental showpiece, while Thailand is desperate to get the seat and earn one last shot in the second round for the group third placers in the qualifiers.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 76 - Baltazar 11, Kouame 11, Ramos 10, Abarrientos 9, Lopez 8, Sotto 7, Tamayo 6, Gomez de Liano 4, Chiu 4, Belangel 3, Heading 3, Go 0.
INDONESIA 51 - Prosper 22, Grahita 8, Dhyaksa 8, Goantara 6, Wisnu 4, Kokodiputra 3, Sitorus 0, Teja 0, Kosasih 0, Saputra 0, Noor 0.
Quarters: 15-11, 30-22, 51-36, 76-51.
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