Gilas Pilipinas Girls fall to 0-2 in FIBA U16 Asia Cup

Sports

CEBU CITY–Another match, another blowout.

Gilas Pilipinas Girls found themselves on the receiving end of another through beating as they got mangled by Chinese Taipei, 48-74, in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup on Tuesday, Sept. 23, at the Arena Seremban in Malaysia.

Gilas dropped to 0-2 in the Division A competition, enduring another bad loss after tasting a humiliating 41-123 blowout defeat at the hands of powerhouse and four-peat seeking Australia the other day.

The Filipinas started strong, scoring the game’s first five points before things went south for them. Chinese Taipei more than recovered from a slow start, ending the first period with a 22-12 run and practically put the game away by outscoring Gilas, 38-24, in the middle periods.

Gilas actually outrebounded Chinese Taipei, 62-53, and had more blocks, 7-3. The Nationals, however, played an erratic game, committing 33 turnovers while the opponent only had 12.

Chinese Taipei pounced on the Filipinas’ error-filled performance by converting 28 turnover points. Chinese Taipei also had more assists, 17-7, and outscored Gilas’ reserves, 35-7.

Chinese Taipei had three players scoring in double figures with Yu-Tung Chang leading the way with 17 points and eight rebounds.

Ella Smith topped Gilas with 14 points, 10 rebounds, four assists, and four steals. Tiffany Reyes added 12 points for Gilas, which needs to finish third in Group A for it to advance to the qualifications to the semifinals.(CCM)