By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas not only opened its World Cup bid on a winning note but also in record-breaking fashion.
Behind a towering frontline of June Mar Fajardo, Quentin Millora-Brown and AJ Edu, the Nationals set the record for the most rebounds in an Asian qualifier game ever since FIBA adopted the home-and-away format in 2017.
The Filipinos towered over the ranked No. 81 Guam and hauled down a total of 61 rebounds, breaking the previous record of 59, held by both Iran and Lebanon on this side of the globe.
It was a rebounding mob for the Filipinos as all the 12 players head coach Tim Cone field contributed at least one rebound with Fajardo and Millora-Brown leading the way with 10 each.
Edu, meanwhile, collared four while Dwight Ramos also crashed the glass with six – five of which came from the offensive side. Gilas had a total of 20 offensive boards all throughout the contest.
And the Nationals did that even with their tallest player in Kai Sotto still sidelined with a knee injury.
The rebounding effort erased the record of Iran which it set against Syria in 2022, and Lebanon, which achieved the same feat against Indonesia in 2021.
In the world level, Gilas’ record rebounds came just two glasses shy of the most in the World Cup qualifiers history.
DR Congo collared a total of 63 rebounds against Morocco in 2018 and then the latest, Angola when it also grabbed 63 against Uganda in 2023.
The most Gilas had prior to the game against Guam was 55 which it set against Saudi Arabia in 2022. In that game, Sotto had 13 rebounds to lead the Nationals while five other players had at least five boards across their names.
