PH U-18 five whips Jordan

Two San Beda players starred as the Philippines cruised to an 85-60 rout of Jordan at the start of its campaign in the Fiba Asia Under-18 Championship Wednesday at Al-Gharafa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Radge Tongco fired a game-high 24 points on a notable 11-of-17 shooting clip, while Josh Caracut collected 11 points, six assists, three rebounds and three steals as the two San Beda guards led Batang Gilas’ dominant start.

Paul Desiderio, who just saw action for the country in the Fiba Worlds Under-17 in Dubai last week, also teamed up with Chino Mosqueda for 20 points to help Batang Gilas erect leads of as high as 35 points, 74-39.

The Philippines will next take on South Korea Thursday in Group B action of the preliminary round.  Korea earlier blasted Jordan, 95-38,  in the Tuesday opener, fell to a 0-2 record.

The top three teams in the 14-nation tournament will advance to the Fiba Worlds Under-19 next year in Greece.  Jasmine W. Payo