MANILA – Batang Gilas opened its campaign in the 2017 FIBA U-17 World Cup with a 75-97 defeat to Croatia in Rosario, France on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila).
The Philippine squad could not keep in step with the well-experienced Croatia despite the strong showing of 7-foot-1 Kai Sotto.
Sotto, an Ateneo Blue Eaglets standout, finished with 23 points while Terrence Fortea, Raven Cortez and Carl Tamayo submitted 14, 13 and 12 points, respectively.
Matej Rudan top-scored with 16 points – including four 3-point conversions – for Croatia while Matej Bosnjak and Ivan Gulin added 14 and 13 points, respectively.
Croatia immediately made its presence felt in the opening quarter with a 25-15 lead on baskets from Rudan and Gulin. The lead grew further at the half 44-31 with Bosnjak contributing inside.
Batang Gilas continued to struggle in the second half due to the tight defense of Croatia before gaining some offense in the final quarter on inside hits by Sotto.
Batang Gilas, mentored by Michael Oliver, will try to bounce back when it faces host France on Monday morning (Manila time) before wrapping up its group match against Argentina on Wednesday./PN
