AS SALT (Jordan) - The Philippines kept their mastery of Indonesia, 75-48, to open their FIBA U18 Asia Cup 2024 run on a high note, Monday at the Arena Complex.
In another encounter between the top two teams of the SEABA Qualifiers, Gilas stamped their class once again as the squad of Coach Josh Reyes played inspired basketball, dedicating their whole campaign for the injured Andy Gemao.
Gemao was seen to lead this batch in the tournament, until a fractured hand which he suffered days before the meet ruled him out of the competition.
But the remaining wards more than stepped up to the plate, with Cabs Cabonilas showing the way with 19 points on 6-of-10 shooting and 8 rebounds in 19 minutes, together with a steal and a block each to net an efficiency of 22 - all in 3 quarters.
Drei Lorenzo contributed 12 points, all from beyond the arc (4-of-5), while Earl Medina nailed a trio of triples for 11 points for the Filipino dribblers, which used a huge second-quarter to turn the game around completely in their favor.
The Philippines held their counterparts to just a measly 2 points in the said frame, while creating 23 of their own to head into the break with a 38-16 lead. The young Timnas would never recover, eventually absorbing the 27-point beating.
Nobody aside from Hady Halmaheranno scored in double figures for Indonesia as he finished with 12 points in the loss that saw them trail by as big as 36.
The other game of Group B witnessed New Zealand display poise in crunch time, coming back from behind to beat Jordan on their own own floor, 71-62.
Tamatoa Isaac delivered 23 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists, while Kahu Treacher came through with 18 points on 3 triples as the two connived to pull the Junior Tall Blacks from the upset ax when they fell behind, 54-52, with 5:04 left to play.
After Carter Hopoi tied the game up, Treacher then took it from there as he scored 8 of their 11-0 run toward a comfortable 63-54 lead with 2:14 remaining.
Isaac would come in to help afterwards, cleaning up his own miss before sinking consecutive free throws as he made 6 of their last 8 points of the game to keep the hosts at bay and join the Philippines for the share of the early lead in Group B.
Jonty Bond scored their last 2 points of the ball game by way of a perfect trip to the line for the eventual final count, going on to finish with 11 points and 3 rebounds.
Leading Jordan's gallant stand, on the other hand, was Saif Al-Deen Saleh with 17 points and 14 rebounds. Omar Khaled Salman backed him up with 12 points.
FIBA