By REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas Boys team displayed poise and held off Indonesia, 77-68, in the battle of undefeated teams in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA qualifiers at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga on Wednesday, May 28.
Getting their first real test in the face of a massive stand from the Indonesians, the wards of head coach LA Tenorio delivered under pressure and went on a crucial 9-2 spurt inside the final five minutes to shake off the pesky visiting team.
After a hat-trick of blowouts to open the tournament, it was the first time that the Gilas Boys were truly threatened as Indonesia stayed within striking distance and even came too close for comfort when it cut the Filipinos’ lead down to four, 61-65, with 4:38 left.
Gilas, however, was nowhere rattled by Indonesia’s rally as Everaign Cruz coolly drained a huge left wing triple to quickly restore order.
Gab Delos Reyes then scored inside off a beautiful spin move before Prince Carino scored on a putback to put Gilas back ahead by twin digits, 72-61.
Delos Reyes came up huge for Gilas with 10 points – none bigger than his last layup that kept a 74-63 count for Gilas, enough to cushion another late run from the Indonesians.
He also added 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks in yet another all-around performance while frontcourt partner Carino topscored the team with 15.
Travis Pascual and Jolo Pascual had 13 and 12, respectively, while Cruz chipped in 10.
Benjamin Piet Hermusi, who was the key cog in Indonesia’s impressive stand, finished with 23 points.
Gilas improved to a perfect 4-0 record while Indonesia slid to the second spot with 3-1 slate. Thailand, which defeated Vietnam earlier, 63-46, is at the third spot with a 2-2 record. It is in tie with Malaysia, which also boasts a similar record after taking down Singapore, 78-55.
