Batang Gilas eyes to sustain momentum vs Japan

MANILA, Philippines – Batang Gilas seeks to ride the crest of its shock victory over favored China as it clashes with Japan in Thursday's quarterfinals of the FIBA-Asia Under-16 Championship at the Britama gym in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The undersized Filipinos slew the Chinese, 78-72, after battling back from five points down with two minutes to go using a swarming, suffocating defense and an 11-point binge fueled by by Kris Harvey Pagsanjan, Jason Credo, SJ Belangel and Jonas Tibayan.

The win sent Batang Gilas in a three-way tie with China and Korea after the elims in Group F with 4-1 (win-loss) records but eventually clinched the No. 2 seed and an interesting quarters duel with Japan, which finished third in  Group E with a 3-2 card.

China, which smashed Korea, 91-65, in the first round, wound up the top seed and will play Kuwait while Korea, which downed the Phl, 77-74, Monday, ended up as No. 3 seed and will tackle Lebanon.

Group E topnotcher Chinese Taipei faces Thailand in the other quarters pairing.

Interestingly, Batang Gilas landed in the bracket where it will face the winner of the Taipei-Thailand match in the semis, assuming the former beats Japan, while China and Korea could collide in the semis.

The stunning victory avenged the Phl’s 66-85 loss to China, which topped the first three of stagings of this event, in the semis in Malaysia in 2009 and a 78-85 setback in the finals in Iran two years ago.

It also ended China's 31 successive wins spread over four editions – Johor Bahru, Malaysia in 2009, Na Thrang, Vietnam in 2011 and Tehran, Iran in 2013.