Fajardo shines as Gilas bucks flat start to rout Chinese-Taipei

MANILA, Philippines — June Mar Fajardo mounted an encore of his brilliant performance against the Taiwanese in Gilas Pilipinas' 93-71 win in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers’ first round in Taipei Friday night.

Fajardo eclipsed the 17 points he poured in the first meeting with 22 markers to help the Filipinos take down the hosts at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium.

Andray Blatche also made up for a forgettable first-meeting showing by scattering 13 points. Jayson Castro, hounded by fouls early, still managed to tally 15. Terrence Romeo chimed in 14 more in the effort.

Gilas bucked a shaky first quarter where the Taiwanese leaned on their long-distance shooting to pace the game. The hosts managed to lead by as many as nine points before suffering a meltdown.

Blatche figured as the catalyst in the takeover, scoring the a scoop at the final two minutes of the first half. Castro, Roger Pogoy and Matthew Wright joined the fray to help Gilas build momentum going into the next half.

“I think it’s just due to some good preparation coming into this ball game. We knew Taipei was going to be a house on fire. We did not lose sight of what we were supposed to do,” head coach Chot Reyes said.

“They were ready and we stuck with our game plan,” he added.

Fajardo, Romeo, and Blatche picked up where they left off after the intermission as Gilas pulled away by as many as 22 points.

“There is just no quit in this team,” Reyes pointed out.

In a separate Group B tussle, listless Japan upset undefeated Australia, 79-78, proving the Boomers — bolstered by two NBA cagers — can be beaten.

Gilas will have their chance against the Aussies this Monday night at the 
Philippine Arena.

“The most important thing is to get rest and recovery, Reyes said of Gilas’ looming match with the Boomers. “We cannot afford to give up offensive rebounds like we did in this game.” ”

The Filipinos now enjoy a 4-1 record.

The scores:

Gilas Pilipinas (93) - Fajardo 22, Castro 15, Romeo 14, Blatche 13, Norwood 8, Wright 6, Rosario 5, Jalalon 2, Pogoy 0, Aguilar 0, Abueva 0, Malicsi 0.

Chinese Taipei (71) - Davis 17, Lu 13, Chen Y. 11, Chou Y. 9, Chen K. 9, Yang 7, Tseng 3, Chou P. 2, Liu 0, Chiang 0, Su 0, Creighton 0.

Quarters: 16-19, 44-37, 68-60, 93-71.