MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas youth unleashed a gripping second quarter run to drub neighbor Indonesia, 75-48, for a flying start in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup late Monday night at the As Salt Arena Complex in Amman, Jordan.
The Filipinos had a hard time pulling away in the opening salvo with a close 15-14 score before launching a searing 23-2 barrage in the second period that took the fight out of the Indonesians heading home.
World No. 25 Gilas led by as many as 36 points even without star guard Andy Gemao, who was ruled out of the tournament on the eve of the opener due to a metacarpal bone fracture injury following a tune-up against Iran.
Still, the Nationals proved to be too good to handle for their Southeast Asian rivals with Wilham Lawrence Cabonilas showing the way with 19 points, eight rebounds, a steal and a block in only 19 minutes of play.
Nicolash Drei Lorenzo and John Earl Medina added 12 and 11 points, respectively, as seven more players racked up the scoring board in their easy 27-point victory.
It was a commanding repeat win for Gilas over Indonesia after an 87-64 win in the SEABA Qualifiers, which the team swept with an average winning margin of 27.3 points to qualify in the Asian tourney.
At 1-0 in Group D, Gilas has the host and FIBA No. 51 Jordan (0-1) next early today before wrapping up the group campaign against No. 27 New Zealand (1-0) late evening in a bid to finish on top for an automatic quarterfinal ticket. Second and third-ranked squads still need to go through qualification.
Mentored by Josh Reyes, Gilas is aiming for a semifinal finish in the FIBA Asia to punch a ticket in the 2025 FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland.
Meanwhile, Halmaheranno Aprianto Lolaru Hady scored 12 points as the lone bright spot for Indonesia gearing up for a tough duel against New Zealand that just beat Jordan, 71-62.