Christian Standhardinger. Photo from Fiba.com
Christian Standhardinger sparked the decisive third quarter blast as Gilas Pilipinas blew out Iraq, 84-68, to stay unbeaten in the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup Friday at Nouhad Nawfal Sports Complex in Beirut, Lebanon.
The Fil-German big man dropped 12 of his 16 points in the third frame, on top of his seven rebounds, to help the Philippines break away from a tight 32-31 lead at halftime to a commanding 60-39 spread late in the period.
READ: Players, coaches turn into fans after Gilas’ big win over China
Terrence Romeo, who starred in Gilas’ 96-87 win over China, also fired 17 markers, 11 coming in the third frame where Gilas outscored the Iraqis, 28-9. He also had four assists and two boards.
Carl Bryan Cruz also went on a perfect 3-of-3 clip from beyond the arc to wound up with 11 points and two rebounds, Roger Pogoy added nine markers and two boards, and Gabe Norwood had eight points and seven rebounds in the decisive victory.
READ: Philippines stuns China to open 2017 Fiba Asia Cup bid
At 2-0, Gilas has now earned the top seed in Group B and can formalize its automatic quarterfinals berth with a win against Qatar on Sunday.
The Philippines bucked a poor start, where Iraq imposed its size advantage to gain control of the first half, before solving the puzzle after the break and pulling away to a lead as high as 23, 64-41, courtesy of a Raymond Almazan dunk with 8:35 remaining.
READ: PROFILES: Gilas Pilipinas Final 12 for Fiba Asia Cup 2017
For the second straight game, Gilas also continued to catch fire from beyond the arc, shooting 12-of-29 from three to negate the Iraqis’ presence down low.
Naturalized import Kevin Galloway was stifled in the second half as he topped Iraq with 23 points, 14 rebounds, six assists, two steals, and two blocks.
The Scores:
GILAS PILIPINAS 84 – Romeo 17, Standhardinger 16, Cruz 11, Pogoy 9, Norwood 8, Wright 8, Aguilar 5, Jalalon 4, Abueva 3, Almazan 2, Castro William 1.
IRAQ 68 – Galloway 23, Hamzah 12, Al-Khafaji 8, Ismael 6, Hamad 5, Hameed 5, Abdullah 3, Dhafer 2, Talib 2, Algburi 2, Aljuboori 0, Alazawi 0.
Quarters: 17-19, 32-31, 60-40, 84-68.