Gilas Pilipinas Youth improved to 3-0 in the FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship. FIBA.basketball.
Gilas Pilipinas Youth completed a sweep of their group in the FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship after pulling away for an 84-73 victory against Chinese Taipei, Tuesday evening at the Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran, Iran.
Mason Amos led the way for the Gilas Under-18 squad, scoring 13 of his 28 points in the fourth quarter while also grabbing six rebounds and dishing out three assists. James Nacua contributed 16 points, and Jared Bahay had eight points and ten assists in the win.
The young Filipinos are now 3-0 in Group C, having earlier beaten Syria and Qatar. Chinese Taipei lost for the first time in the competition to drop to 2-1.
Both teams are through to the quarterfinals though their opponents have yet to be determined.
Gilas found itself in a dogfight with Chinese Taipei, which took a 63-60 lead entering the fourth quarter, thanks to a three-pointer by Hsuan Chen. A split at the line by Yi An Chiu made it 64-60 early in the final period.
But Nacua drilled a triple to spark a 10-0 blast for the Philippines, with Amos contributing the go-ahead three-pointer and a transition dunk to cap the flurry.
A layup by Te Chi Hsu ended the silence for Chinese Taipei but Amos had gotten his rhythm by that point. The Ateneo de Manila University commit knocked down two more three-pointers, the second of which beat the shot-clock buzzer and gave Gilas its biggest lead at 79-68 with 2:06 to go.
Chinese Taipei faded from there, as Seven Gagate put the finishing touches on the win with a hook shot and a split at the free throw line.
Chun Sheng Chang scored 24 points, coming alive in the third quarter where Chinese Taipei looked set to pull away. Hsu added 14 points.
Gilas shot 47% from the field, and limited Chinese Taipei to just 36.4% shooting. They also translated Chinese Taipei's 18 turnovers into 22 points.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 84 -- Amos 28, Nacua 16, Coronel 9, Gagate 9, Bahay 8, Pablo 5, Gamber 4, Alao 3, Abadam 2, Porter 0, Demisana 0.
CHINESE TAIPEI 73 -- Chun SC 24, Te 14, Chun YK 11, Ming HC 6, Lu 5, Tzu 4, Yi 3, Hsuan 3, Yu 3, Ming JX 0, Bo 0.
Quarters: 28-20, 42-39, 60-63, 84-73.
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