MANILA – Batang Gilas cruised to its second straight win in the 2018 FIBA U18 Asian Championship by clobbering United Arab Emirates 92-49 at the Bangkok Thai-Japan Youth Center in Thailand.
Ariel John Edu led the Philippines with 16 points and eight rebounds while Kai Sotto chipped in with 14 markers and eight boards Monday night.
Batang Gilas was dominant the entire match, even outrebounding UAE 66-26 that resulted into a 22-2 advantage in second chance points. The Philippine side also had 40 points from the inside.
The Philippines opened the match with a 10-0 advantage – mostly on inside hits from Edu – that led to a 29-14 edge at the end of first quarter. They widened this 50-31 at the half with Sotto joining the scoring.
Raven Angelo Cortez and Xyrus Torres made baskets as Batang Gilas imposed its will further on the offensive in the second half.
They clamped on the defense and held UAE scoreless the entire fourth quarter.
“It’s really hard to expect anything in terms of results or things like that but I will say this: I expect these guys to play their best and work their hardest,” said Philippine head coach Josh Reyes.
“That’s the expectation we have from everybody, to really give their all for the country and for the team,” Reyes said.
Rhayyan Amsali and Torres finished with 13 and 12 points, respectively, while Dalph Panopio had 7 points and five assists for the Philippines, which was facing China as of this writing.
Mohamed Mahmoud Asad Ahmed Alhashmi finished with 18 points for UAE, which remained winless in two matches./PN
