By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
THE Philippine national youth team is through to the semifinals of the FIBA U18 Asian Championship after beating Bahrain, 67-52, in their knockout quarterfinals on Thursday at the Stadium 29 in Nonthaburi in Thailand.
Making the necessary adjustments when it was pushed to the wall, Batang Gilas was not to be stopped after getting its collective groove the rest of the way to stay unblemished in four games and advance to the next round of the tournament.
By winning over Bahrain and being among the top four, the Philippines, which topped Group B in group play with a 3-0 record, assured itself of a spot in the 2019 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.
The game was tight to start the opening quarter before AJ Edu jolted Batang Gilas to a strong finish to create some distance at the end of the first quarter, 20-11.
Bahrain came charging back to open the second canto, with Rashed Awadh leading, going on a 16-6 run to overtake the Philippines, 27-26, at the 4:39 mark.
It would continue to build on it after to complete the turnaround, 34-26, at the halftime break.
Recognizing that it had allowed Bahrain to get its way in the second period, Batang Gilas got out more aggressive in the third period, capitalizing on its height and size advantage, anchored by Kai Sotto and Edu.
The Philippines went on 10-2 run out of the third-quarter gate to level the count at 36-all at the 6:51 mark.
The two teams went back-and-forth thereafter with Batang Gilas eventually doing just enough to take hold of command heading into the final quarter, 48-45.
Batang Gilas kept at bay Bahrain in the early goings of the payoff quarter, holding an eight-point separation, 53-45, with 8:02 to go in the match.
Bahrain made efforts to come back but the Philippines simply did not allow it to gain much headway.
The Filipino lads had a 57-47 advantage with four minutes remaining and just held from there on their way to the breakthrough victory.
Sotto led the Philippines with 21 points, 17 coming in the second half, to go along with 10 rebounds and three blocks with Edu adding a solid double-double of 16 points and 17 rebounds.
Guard Miguel Oczon finished with 10 points while Dalph Panopio had four points and eight assists.
Bahrain, meanwhile, was led by 13 points each from Awadh and Baqer Ali.
Batang Gilas is to face either Australia or Japan in the semifinals set for today. The two nations were to meet in their own knockout quarterfinals later yesterday.
