MANILA – Even without Jordan Clarkson, Gilas Pilipinas proved to be too much for Kazakhstan.
The Philippines smothered its opponent in the opening of the 2018 Asian Games men’s basketball 96-59 on Thursday at the Gelora Bung Karno Basketball Hall in Jakarta, Indonesia.
Stanley Pringle led Gilas’ charge with 18 points. Christian Standhardinger added 15 markers while James Yap and Paul Lee contributed 12 and 10 points, respectively.
Clarkson, a Cleveland Cavaliers guard in the NBA, was unable to play for the Philippines in its first game after arriving at the venue midway in the third quarter after a daylong flight from Los Angeles, California.
But the absence of the Filipino-American guard was hardly felt.
The Philippines surged to a 14-4 start with hits from Gabe Norwood and Maverick Ahanmisi. Kazakhstan relied on the free throw line to come to within 9-16.
Gilas struggled early in the second period before pulling to a 33-17 lead on triples by Yap, Chris Tiu and John Erram. Conversions from Pringle increased the advantage to 41-20 at the half.
Kazakhstan showed some life in the third period as it was able to chop down Gilas’ lead to 17 but Pringle, Beau Belga and Raymond Almazan came up with timely hits to maintain a 61-43 edge.
In the final quarter the Philippines broke away for good with 3-point conversions from Lee, Tiu and Asi Taulava, and a 3-point play by Standhardinger raising the advantage to its highest 96-59.
Anton Bykov was the lone bright spot for Kazakhstan with 13 points. Veteran players Rustam Yergali and Rustam Murzagaliyev were held to 8 and 0 points, respectively./PN
