China gets back at misfiring Batang Gilas in battle for bronze

Photo from Fiba.com

China returned the favor and crushed the Philippines, 76-57, to bag the bronze medal in the Fiba Under-18 Asian Championship Saturday night at Stadium 29 in Thailand.

The Chinese drew a big game from Quanze Wang and Jie Xu to avenge their stunning 73-63 loss on Tuesday night.

Wang starred with game-highs of 27 points and 14 rebounds on top of four assists, two steals and a block while Xu added 18 points, five rebounds and seven assists.

For the second game in a row, Batang Gilas failed to make shots after shooting just 24 percent in a 34-point beatdown at the hands of Australia on Friday.

Among the starters, only Kai Sotto made at least 50 percent of his attempts, going 5-of-8 to finish with a team-high 16 points that went with eight rebounds.

Fil-Nigerian big man AJ Edu had 14 points on 15 shots, making only five, while Dave Ildefonso, who fired 18 points in the first encounter against China, scored nine points but went 4-of-13 from the field. Batang Gilas hit just 35 percent of its attempts.

The Philippines scored the game’s first four points but it was all China from there as the Chinese outscored the Filipinos, 27-10, to end the first quarter.

Batang Gilas never recovered with China extending its lead to 20 points in the second quarter. The closest Batang Gilas got was within 13, 53-40, late in the third period.