Gilas rips Lithuania Euro U-20 champs

MANILA, Philippines - “Still a lot of TOs (turnovers), still shot poorly from the 3 (three-point zone), but saw a lot of +s (positives),” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes on his Twitter account.

The young Lithuanian team was tipped to provide the Filipinos their toughest test in their Lithuanian buildup, being the Euro 20-under champions with a lineup bannered by three US NCAA Division I campaigners.

The Filipinos, however, rose to the challenge, winning the game on a good start and rock-solid finish in a big comeback from their 86-89 loss to the LSU-Baltai Club team Sunday for their third win in four friendly games against Lithuanian teams.

Jayson Castro and Marcus Douthit put in 14 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Gilas to another victory following earlier wins over Neptunas (81-76) and Birstono Jazz-Diremta (74-63).

Gabe Norwood, Japeth Aguilar, Ranidel de Ocampo, Jeff Chan and Larry Fonacier contributed seven points to underscore Gilas’ balanced scoring.

The Filipinos imposed their game right at the start, taking the opening quarter at 30-22 and the half at 51-43.

Gilas then hung tough in the face of the Lithuanians’ repeated uprisings, completing the win that underscored the national pool’s training in the European country for the FIBA Asia tilt.

Gilas and the Lithuanian 20-under team face off for the second straight game Thursday night before the Filipinos close out their six-game series with another match versus LSU-Baltai.

The Lithuanian training is part of Gilas Pilipinas’ preparation for the 27th FIBA Asia Championship slated Aug. 1-11 at the MOA Arena in Pasay and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila.