Gilas Pilipinas big man Mason Amos during a game against Chinese Taipei. Photo by Fiba
MANILA, Philippines — The Gilas Pilipinas youth team survived a shaky endgame to beat Chinese Taipei, 72-67, and move on the verge of a fifth-place finish in the Fiba Under-18 Asian Championship on Friday at Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran.
Licking the wounds of their shattered World Cup hopes after losing to Lebanon in the quarterfinals on Wednesday, Gilas big man Mason Amos poured six of his 21 points in the third quarter, where the Filipinos led as many as 20 points, 55-35, in the last three minutes of the period.
However, the Gilas boys flirted with disaster after an error-filled payoff period where they committed seven turnovers in the final five minutes as the Taiwanese pulled within five, 72-67, after Chun Yen Kuo’s layup with still 26 seconds to go.
Fortunately for the Philippines, it was a case of too little too late for Chinese Taipei, which just ran out of time.
Despite committing 27 turnovers, the young Filipinos will face the winner of the Qatar-Iran classification for fifth place.
Besides Amos, who had six rebounds and three assists, EJ Abadam chipped in 14 points and six boards. Jared Bahay also scored 14 and grabbed five rebounds, while Seven Gagate put up eight markers and 14 boards.
Chinese Taipei lost its second straight game to the Philippines after falling, 84-73, in their Group C battle last Tuesday.
Wei Chieh Yeh led the Taiwanese with 17 points. Te Chi Hsu had 16 points, five rebounds, and five assists, while Chun added 12 points and six boards as they will be relegated in the battle for seventh place.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 72 — Amos 21, Abadam 14, Bahay 14, Gagate 8, Gamber 5, Nacua 5, Pablo 3, Coronel 1, Demisana 0, Andres 0, Porter 0.
CHINESE TAIPEI 67 — Wei 17, Te 16, Chun YK 12, Chun SC 9, Lu 4, Ming HC 3, Hsuan 3, Ming JX 3, Yi 0, Tzu 0, Yu 0.
Quarters: 12-19, 35-27, 59-43, 72-67.