NHA TRANG CITY, Vitenam – Energen Pilipinas failed to recover from its heart-breaking setback to South Korea and blew its bid to salvage third place, bowing to Japan, 94-81, at the close of the Second FIBA-Asia U-16 Championship at Khan Noa Sports Center here yesterday.
The Japanese, beaten by the Filipinos, 83-72, in the elims and routed by China, 82-43, in the Final Four, bucked the Nationals’ man-to-man defense with long jumpers, including 10 triples, to get back at their tormentors and clinch third place honors.
Daiki Kaneko hit eight treys and finished with a game-high 25 points while Keita Shinkawa banged in 16 points to provide solid backup to big men Yusei Sugiura and Yudai Baba, who combined for 38 points.
The Japanese whooped it up at center court at the buzzer to claim the bronze medals they snatched from the Filipinos, who wept after absorbing another sorry setback.
“No. 5 (Shinkawa) and No. 4 (Kaneko) made the shots they couldn’t convert the first time around, that’s really our gamble because we focused on their other shooters, who are deadlier than them from the outside,” said Energen Pilipinas coach Olsen Racela.
It was another painful loss for the Nationals, who gallantly fought the South Koreans for a berth in the finals only to succumb at endgame, 58-67.
“The coaching staff tried to boost their morale by coming into the game with happy faces but deep inside everybody feels different because it’s hard to play a game after a tough loss (Thursday). But that’s the way it is,” said Racela.
“But it’s unfair at a young age, they experienced these kind of losses because I’ve only got to feel that when I was older,” said Racela. “But in the end, they’re very positive and understood they will come out as grown men after this tournament.”
While Japan frolicked from beyond the arc, Energen Pilipinas had a nightmarish 3-of-22 clip after a four-of-23 stint against South Korea.
Like in the Korea match, the Phl had a strong start, faltered in the second quarter and faded in the third period in the face of Japan awesome firepower.
The Filipinos fell by as many as 23 points but tried one last time by going full-court press. They got to within eight but the Japanese recovered and defused the uprising with timely hits.