China returns to FIBA Asia throne at Gilas' expense

MANILA, Philippines -- Too big.  Too strong.  Too many dubious calls and non-calls.

China's version of Redeem Team imposed their superior height as they bullied Gilas Pilipinas, 78-67, and ran away with the 2015 FIBA Asia Men's Championship gold and the outright spot for Asia in the Rio Olympics next year.

China returned to the throne after being unceremoniously ousted from the medal round in the 2013 edition in Manila hotly contested by Iran and Gilas, the two teams they beat this year on their way to the gold. 

It was practically over right before it even started.

The hosts tried get into the head of Gilas Pilipinas players delaying their bus and disrupting their warmup but all of that only fueled the Filipinos as they went off to a hot 5-0 start.

A Gabe Norwood three-pointer at the six-minute mark gave Gilas its last five-point lead, 15-10, as the Chinese settled down and answered back with a 12-0 run to grab the upper hand, 22-15.

Gilas played catch-up the rest of the way and only came close to eight points. A dubious non-call on Norwood broke Gilas' mini-rally turning the ball over and stopping their momentum. 

Gilas tried to wage a whale of a fight despite the spotty officiating and a hostile crowd that was caught on TV throwing bottles towards the Gilas' bench at the height of the second half battle.

Norwood was seen poked in the eye right in front of the referee causing him to fall down and lost the ball to the sidelines but did not get the call.  China got the possession and it signaled the start of Gilas' downfall.

China took advantage of Andray Blatche's third foul a few plays after as they opened up a 16-point advantage, 60-44, on Li Gen's back-to-back triples.

Gilas, however, made a living at the stripes to climb back and cut the deficit into just 10 heading into the payoff period.

But a 5-0 start by China kept Gilas at bay as the host team maintained double digit the rest of the way.

It didn't help that Gilas did not shoot well.

Gilas struggled to find their rhythm connecting only 6-of-24 from the three-point zone and just 35.4 percent overall from the field.

China, on the other hand, hit nine triples and shot slightly better overall at 37.5 percent. They also went 21-of-33 at the line compared to Gilas' 15-of-26.

Blatche was the only Gilas player finishing in double figures with 17 as Castro was limited to eight as he was bothered by foul trouble and the length of their Chinese counterparts.

As consolation, Castro was named as the Best Point Guard in Asia anew, his second straight award. 

Yi finished with 11 points and 15 rebounds on his way to being named the tournament MVP while Guo Ailun hit 19 markers to pace China in the gold medal game.

Gilas finished as bridesmaids for the second time in a row and will join dethroned champion Iran and Japan along with some of the world powers in basketball in the Olympic qualifiers next year.