INQUIRER Sports

MANILA, Philippines?Smart Gilas Pilipinas leaned on former University of Santo Tomas hotshot Dylan Ababou as it whipped the Canberra Gunners, 101-84, Thursday night at the Belconnen Basketball Stadium in Canberra, Australia.

The UAAP MVP came out of a slump and torched the hoops with five three-pointers to finish with 20 points as Gilas remained unbeaten in its six-game Australian Tour.

The Filipinos are undefeated in their Australian trip, counting their victories over the host country?s Under-19 squad (78-67) and Australia?s second team (79-73). The team drew AIS Wednesday night, 73-all.

The national pool, handled by coach Rajko Toroman, was to face NSWIS last night and is slated to meet a club team from Sydney tomorrow.

?We?re doing great,? said Smart Gilas team manager Frankie Lim after Gilas sizzled from beyond the arc with 13 three-pointers after going two of 20 last time out.

?But more than the wins, we hope to toughen up and learn many things from training games like these.?

Mac Baracael contributed 15 points and skipper Chris Tiu added 14 to backstop Ababou, who had a breakout game after completely struggling from the field the past three matches. June Navarro

The scores:

SMART GILAS 101?Ababou 20, Baracael 15, Tiu 14, Barroca 10, Aguilar 10, Slaughter 9, Ballesteros 9, Lassiter 8, Jazul 6, Cawaling 0, Sison 0.

CANBERRA GUNNERS 84?Baird 14, Miller 13, Todorovski 13, Brown 12, Mesman 11, Jackson 7, Aaron Coddington 6, Heaton 4, Lacey 2, Malcom 2.

Quarters: 29-14, 49-34, 69-63, 101-84