By REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas Boys team remained unscathed in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA qualifiers after breezing past Singapore, 101-37 at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center, Monday, May 26.
As expected the Gilas Boys were dominant at all fronts, limiting the Singporeans to single digit scoring in all but one quarter while also simply getting anything it wanted on the offensive to improve to a 3-0 record in the standings.
Six players scored in double figures for Gilas led by Jhustin Hallare, who fired 13 points to go with six assists and five rebounds while Evareign Cruz chipped in 14.
Ethan Tan-Chi had 12 while Nickson Cabanero and Rayven Restificar had 11 apiece.
Travis Pascual did a little bit of everything with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Gab Delos Reyes, although only finishing with seven, manned the paint with 13 rebounds and seven blocks to go with six assists.
Gilas, like in its last game against Thailand, quickly dictated the pace of the contest behind their suffocating defense, limiting Singapore to just seven points in the opening frame.
Except for the 5-2 lead the visiting team enjoyed in the first few minutes, the story was practically all Gilas after the hosts unloaded a 22-2 blast for the rest of the quarter to take full control.
Zi Yang Tan was the lone bright spot for Singapore with his 12 points though it was not enough to help his team avoid falling into a 0-3 hole.
Gilas takes a break on Tuesday, May 27 before plunging back into action against another spotless team in Indonesia on Wednesday, May 28.
The Indonesians also went 3-0 after a 70-62 win over Thailand. Malaysia, meanwhile, picked up its first win of the tournament after dominating Vietnam, 86-65.
