Batang Gilas survives Thailand scare for 2nd straight win

MANILA, Philippines -- The Batang Gilas used a big third quarter spurt to break away from Thailand as they continued to roll with a 70-51 win Friday in the 2015 FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

From a tight 30-27 halftime score, the Batang Gilas exploded in the third quarter outscoring Thailand, 28-9, to wrest full control of the game.

Team skipper Samjosef Belangel, Jonas Tibayan and Will Gozum sparked an 18-6 run  to open the third quarter and established a commanding 15-point lead, 48-33. They never looked back from there as they made a good follow-up of their 40-point rout of Bahrain last Thursday. 

Belangel and Kris Pagsanjan led the Batang Gilas' balanced attack with 10 points apiece while Gozum flirted with a double-double as he wound up with nine and 10 rebounds. 

Belangel, who hails from Bacolod and a product of Jr. NBA, also added three assists, two rebounds and two steals.