JERIE Pingoy and Mario Bonleon sizzled from the beginning as the Energen Pilipinas under-18 team blasted Indonesia, 88-62, at the start of the second round of the 22nd Fiba Asia U-18 Championship yesterday in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia.
The Philippines didn’t show any effect of its 93-72 loss to Iran Sunday as Pingoy and Bonleon combined for 22 points in the first half to tow the squad to a 15-point advantage, 45-30, at the break at Buyant-Ukhaa Arena.
Pingoy, the reigning UAAP juniors MVP from Far Eastern University-Diliman, topscored with 16 against the Indonesians, who were mentored by Filipino coach Nat Canson.
Bonleon, La Salle Green Hills’ star forward, unloaded all but two of his 15 points in the first half and also had three steals.
“We’re getting back on track,” national youth coach Olsen Racela said after the team bounced back from its first loss in the tournament from two-time champion Iran. “It is always hard to play a game after a tough loss. The boys gave their best effort and that’s the only thing we ask from them.”
Rey Nambatac, the reigning NCAA juniors MVP from Letran, also delivered 11 markers and nine rebounds, while big men Prince Rivero and Kris Porter chipped in eight points each.
The Philippines improved to 2-1 in Group F as teams only carry over the preliminary record of their games with the qualifying teams.
Lined up next for the Filipinos are Chinese Taipei at 10 a.m. today and Bahrain at 2 p.m. tomorrow.
Only 12 out of the 16 competing nations advanced to the second round, where the qualifiers got divided into two groups.
The Philippines joined Chinese-Taipei, Iran, Indonesia, Bahrain and Saudi Arabia in Group F, while China, Korea, Syria, Lebanon, Japan and India were bunched in Group E.
Skippered by under-16 holdover Jay Alejandro, the Philippines kicked off its campaign with back-to-back wins over Saudi Arabia (95-52) and Kazakhstan (83-69).
The Philippines secured a slot in the second round after finishing second at 2-1 in Group D of the preliminaries.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 88—Pingoy 16, Bonleon 15, Nambatac 11, Rivero 8, Porter 8, Alejandro 7, Cani 7, Babilonia 5, Lao 4, Suarez 4, Olayon 3, Javelosa 0.
INDONESIA 62—Panagan 12, Adrianno 11, Kosasih 9, Pangetshio 9, Lapian 6, Baskoro 5, Halim 4, Tuasela 4, Sitorus 2, Kokodiputra 0, Istiadi 0, Steven Oei 0.
Quarters: 23-18, 45-30, 67-48, 88-62