SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — Gilas Pilipinas Youth delivered a dominant performance on Thursday night, routing Malaysia 96-61 in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.
Rebounding from a tighter contest against Indonesia, where they only won by nine points, the young Filipino squad came out with renewed energy and tightened defense to dismantle the Malaysians and maintain their unbeaten run.
Batang Gilas turned a 7-all tie into a 28-12 first-quarter lead thanks to a decisive 21-5 run. From there, they cruised comfortably to secure the top seed heading into the final against Indonesia.
Despite the outcome of the upcoming title match, both Gilas and Indonesia have already booked their tickets to the FIBA U16 Asia Cup in Mongolia this August.
“We had to get back to discipline and system,” said national youth coach LA Tenorio. “Some of the boys were getting complacent, thinking the opposition would be easy. I reminded them to always stay focused on what we’ve been doing.”
Travis Pascual and Jeremiah Antolin led the scoring with 15 points each off the bench. Pascual also tallied five assists and four rebounds, while Antolin shot efficiently, missing just two of his nine attempts, and added four boards and a steal.
Prince Cariño added a double-double with 13 points and 11 rebounds, plus two assists, two steals, and two blocks. Starter Everaigne Cruz chipped in 14 points along with four rebounds, three assists, three steals, and three blocks.
Gilas Youth’s bench proved crucial, accounting for 58 of the team’s 96 points. The squad also forced 27 turnovers, which they converted into 41 points.
Cameron Jeremie Pagbe Tan was one of only two Malaysians in double figures, finishing with 16 points. Malaysia ended the elimination round with a 2-3 record and will compete against Thailand (3-2) for the last qualifying spot to the main tournament.
