Phl U-16 routs Jordan; 3x3 team falls

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines bounced back from its heartbreaking loss to Chinese Taipei the night before as it walloped Jordan, 73-60, to boost its quarterfinal bid in the third FIBA-Asia Under-16 Championship in Tehran, Iran yesterday.

Jolo Go of Hope Christian School exploded with a game-high 22 points, including four booming triples while Ateneo’s Jolo Mendoza scattered 14 points he spiked with a game-best seven steals, most of which coming in the second quarter when the Jamike Jarin-coached Nationals broke loose.

Michael Joseph Nieto had another sterling effort as he came through with 12 points and a tournament-high 20 boards as the Filipinos erased the stigma of a painful 90-95 defeat at the hands of Chinese Taipei the night before.

The win sent the Filipinos, whose first win came at the expense of Kazakhstan, 90-88, Friday, at solo third, just a game behind fellow Group F countries Japan and Chinese Taipei, which are unbeaten in two games at press time.

The Philippines will play Japan today and India (0-2) tomorrow.

The Filipinos in Iran also soothed the pain suffered by their countrymen competing in the 2013 FIBA 3x3 U-18 World Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia where they suffered a pair of defeats after winning their first three games Friday.

Just a day after sweeping Chinese Taipei, Guatemala and Andorra, the squad of Thirdy Ravena, Arvin Tolentino, Prince Rivero and Kobe Paras ran into a taller, bigger China and absorbed an embarrassing 0-20 beating.

The Filipinos then fell to the Bulgarians hours later in a gripping 11-12 defeat that sent it into a three-way logjam at third place with their conquerors and Czech Republic on identical 3-2 (win-loss) records.

The Philippines, coached by John Flores, hopes to make it to the next round with just a win either against defending champion United States, the tournament favorite with an unblemished 5-0 card, or Czech Republic in today’s final day of the group stages.