Batang Gilas rips Kazakhs, eyes 5th spot vs Japanese

The Philippines overpowered Kazakhstan, 86-74, Wednesday night to stay on track for a fifth-place finish in the Fiba Asia Under-18 Championship at Al-Gharafa Stadium in Doha, Qatar.

Paul Desiderio fired 19 points and grabbed eight rebounds to lead Batang Gilas, who raced to a 54-38 halftime lead in the classification round match before foiling the Kazakhs’ comeback attempts in the second half.

Radge Tongco chipped in 13 points, while Mark Dyke (10 points and nine rebounds), Jollo Go (10 points) and Kobe Paras (10 points) also finished in double figures.

The Philippines, which was battling Japan for fifth place at press time Thursday, dropped out of the medal round after absorbing a heartbreaking 86-90 loss to Chinese Taipei in the knockout quarterfinals.

Defending champion China and Iran arranged a title showdown after routing separate opponents in the Final Four.

China routed Chinese Taipei, 92-50, while Iran spoiled South Korea’s bid for a third straight finals stint with a 78-60 win. Jasmine W. Payo