Philippines stop Bahrain to secure FIBA U19 World ticket, Sotto score 21

NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship) - The clock struck twelve for Bahrain at the first half buzzer and the Philippines ended their Cinderella story run with a 67-52 in the FIBA U18 Asian Championship Quarterfinals.

Bahrain made it to the Quarterfinals with an upset win over Chinese-Taipei in the Playoffs and seemed set on another shocker when they finished the first half with a 21-0 run to lead by 8 points. Rashed Awadh was having a solid outing of 11 points at the half and with the Philippines shooting blanks, everything looked good for Bahrain’s chances. 

But when the second half started, the Philippines settled down and went to their clear advantage of having the 7’2” Kai Sotto. Ten straight points for the towering prodigy got the Southeast Asian Champions back to tie the game.

AJ Edu (16 points, 17 rebounds, 2 blocks) had a similar strong start to tipoff the game with 12 points in the first quarter, including two long bombs, before Bahrain had started their furious run. 

Kai Sotto continued to dominate the second half and finished with 21 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 blocks. He connected with Dalph Panopio for a couple of skyscraping alleyoops and the slam at the 5:00 minute mark of the 4^th quarter to bring the Philippines lead to double digits pretty much sealed the deal. 

The win not only seals a spot in the Semifinals for the Philippines, but also a ticket to the FIBA U19 World Championship. It is the first time a team from the SEABA subzone will be among the final 4 teams since 1995 and the first time that the Philippines will have a chance at a medal since 1992.

FIBA