A day after shocking host team Qatar, the Philippines absorbed a thorough whipping from defending champion China, 91-49, in the Fiba Asia Under-18 Championship Saturday night (Friday in Manila) at Al-Gharafa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.
The national youth team, known as Batang Gilas, proved no match against the mighty Chinese and fell to a 2-2 record in Group E of the second round.
The 42-point blowout triumph was nothing new for the unbeaten Chinese (4-0), who have beaten their foes by a whopping average winning margin of 51 points.
Although decidedly quicker, Batang Gilas just couldn’t get their rhythm going, struggling on a 25.6 shooting percentage, just a day after a huge triumph over Qatar, 82-79, where they rallied from 15 points down in the last seven minutes.
No Filipino finished in double figures this time as Brandrey Bienes topscored with only nine points, while Dave Yu and Paul Desiderio added eight points each.
The much-taller Chinese, who have four players standing just a shade below seven feet, dominated the boards, 57-29, and on points scored inside the paint, 54-26.
Mentored by Jamike Jarin, Batang Gilas wrap up their second-round stint versus lightweight Malaysia Sunday night (Monday morning in Manila) with the knockout quarterfinal stage set on Tuesday.
The Nationals, bolstered by 6-foot-7 Kobe Paras, beat Jordan, 85-60, Wednesday. Jasmine W. Payo