Philippines beats China

Philippines beats China

Philippines beats China
PBA

Philippines beats China

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The Philippines got sweet revenge on China, carving out a 96-87 win to open its FIBA Asia Cup campaign on a high note in Lebanon tonight. Gilas was up 14 at the half and withstood a torrid comeback by China to prove tougher down the stretch.

Gilas played without JuneMar Fajardo due to injury and lost Calvin Abueva on a disqualifying foul in the 1st quarter but coach Chot Reyes worked a miracle in gathering the troops in a courageous display of pure heart. Gilas played fearlessly and avenged the loss to China. In the 2015 FIBA Asia Cup final in Changsha. Terrence Romeo (below left) was the man of the moment with 26 pts.

Gabe Norwood played super defense and compiled 3 pts 3 rebs 2 assts 3 stls in a team-high 32:28 minutes. Christian Standhardinger had 15 pts 6 rebs, Jayson Castro shot 13 pts with 7 assts, Raymond Almazan delivered 9 pts including 2 dunks, Japeth Aguilar was the unsung hero with 7 pts 5 blks, RR Pogoy collected 9 pts 6 rebs.

Gilas outshot China from the field 58.2% to 45.3% and hit 22 of 27 free throws compared to China's 7 of 16. China had more rebs 39-30 and more assts 17-16 but had 3 more turnovers 15-12, congrats to Gilas but it's just one game and there are more games to play, let's celebrate the win then focus on our next game against Iraq on friday and Qatar on Sunday! @smartgilas I #fibaasiacup2017 @fiba @samahangbasketbolngpilipinas @pbaconnect @coachot