MANILA – Batang Gilas settled for fourth place in the FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship after a 60-76 loss to New Zealand at the Foshan Lingnan Mingzhu Gymnasium in Guangdong.
The result of the Sunday night game was still a huge achievement for the Philippine team, which placed fifth in the 2015 edition.
And despite this, Batang Gilas will still be heading to the 2019 U-17 World Cup.
Batang Gilas had a strong start and was able to lead by as much as 7 points behind Kai Sotto, Terrence Fortea and Forthsky Padrigao, but New Zealand answered with a huge run to snatch a 42-21 halftime lead.
New Zealand continued its domination in the second half, with conversions from Marvin Williams-Dunn and Mitchell Dance, to build its largest lead in the match – 27 points.
“We need to get stronger and develop our outside shooting more,” said Batang Gilas coach Mike Oliver.
As they move to the World stage, Oliver assured that “we will always give our best every time we step on the floor no matter who our opponent is.”
Fortea top-scored with 18 points while Sotto finished with 13 points, seven rebounds and a block in 22 minutes of play for Batang Gilas.
Williams-Dunn led New Zealand with 17 markers while Dance added 16 points and seven boards.
In the gold medal match, Australia recovered from a slow start to beat host China 91-67.
Luke Travers led the way for Australia with 22 points while Wani Swaka Lo Buluk and Tamuri Wigness added 21 and 20 points, respectively./PN
