MANILA, Philippines — Batang Gilas went neck-to-neck with world No. 7 France in the first half and even led by four points but failed to sustain the fire in losing a 95-54 decision as coach Mike Oliver’s twin towers 7-1 Kai Sotto and 6-7 Raven Cortez fouled out at the FIBA U17 World Cup in Rosario, Argentina, last Sunday night (yesterday morning, Manila time).
It was the Philippines’ second straight setback, coming on the heels of the 97-75 loss to world No. 10 Croatia last Saturday. Batang Gilas will end its Group D assignments against host Argentina tonight (tomorrow morning, Manila time). All 16 teams that were split into four groups will advance to the knockout Round of 16.
Oliver tweaked his starting lineup for France and appeared to catch Les Bleus off-guard at the onset. For Croatia, the Batang Gilas starters were Sotto, RC Calimag, Forthsky Padrigao, Yukien Andrada and Carl Tamayo. For France, the starters were Terrence Fortea, Gerry Abadiano, Josh Lazaro, Tamayo and Sotto. The teams battled to a 17-all standoff in the first quarter and France held a precarious six-point lead at the half, 38-32.
Then, all hell broke loose in the third period as France stepped on the gas to pull away behind a 35-13 surge. The momentum carried over to the final quarter which France took easily, 22-9. The Philippines was held to only 22 points in the entire second half while France frolicked with 57.
Sotto, who torched Croatia with 23 points, was limited to only seven points on 3-of-5 field goals and six rebounds in 23:28 minutes before fouling out. Cortez fired 13 against Croatia but never took a single attempt against France in 10:23 minutes and he, too, was disqualified with five personals.
Oliver said France made key adjustments to take over the game. “They put pressure on our ball carriers para bilisan yung offense natin dahil we dictated the tempo in the first half with a slow pace,” he said. “We still committed a lot of turnovers that translated into easy layups and even dunks.”
Miscues and poor transition defense led to Batang Gilas’ collapse. France forced 21 errors on the Philippines and scored 28 fastbreak points to Batang Gilas’ five. France had more turnover points, 24-9, rebounds, 52-38, free throws made 26-12, field goal attempts, 73-63, second chance points, 16-6 and points in the paint, 58-36.
Tamayo led Batang Gilas with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Abadiano was the only other Philippine player in double figures with 17 on 8-of-14 field goals. Five players shot twin digits for France – Malcolm Cazalon 18, Matthieu Gauzin 16, Theo Maldeon 14, French-American Killian Hayes 14 and Timothe Crusol 11.