Phl whips Singapore, reaches FIBA U-18

MANILA, Philippines - The Philippines steamrolled Singapore, 124-63, to complete its three-game sweep of the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Under-18 Championship in Tawau, Sabah, Malaysia and formalize its FIBA-Asia Championship entry Wednesday.

University of the Phl’s Paul Desiderio led the Filipinos with 17 points while San Beda standout Joshua Andrei Caracut, Dave Yu, Thirdy Ravena, Jollo Go, Aaron Black and Henry Asilum chipped in 16, 16, 14, 12, 12 and 10 points, respectively.

The national team actually snared a slot in the FIBA-Asia tilt scheduled Aug. 19-28 in Doha, Qatar as early as Tuesday when it crushed Malaysia, 93-76.

The Phl’s other win came at the expense of Indonesia, 98-35, Monday.

“Next step for us is to prepare well for Doha,” said Phl team coach Jamike Jarin, who steered the Filipinos to a silver medal finish in the FIBA-Asia U-16 Championship in Iran to seal a spot in the FIBA Worlds also in August in Dubai.