BATANG GILAS LEAVES THE BEST FOR LAST, ROUTS HOSTS U.A.E BY 64 POINTS
By Ronnie Nathanielsz
PhilBoxing.com
Sun, 17 Aug 2014
The Batang Gilas team in the FIBA Under 17 Championships in Dubai left the best for last as they routed hosts United Arab Emirates by 64 points, 115-51 to finish 15th in the competition which featured 16 teams with the United States making it a three-peat after withstanding a stiff challenge from Australia to prevail 99-92.
Malik Newman led the Americans with 21 points and 11 rebounds while Jayson Tatun added 15 points with Josh Jackson and Harry Giles contributing 13 points apiece.
The USA defeated Batang Gilas by 60 points in the Group stage but still said the Filipinos were the toughest team they played which was before they faced the tough Aussies in the final.
Used to staying with their much bigger opponents in previous games at least in the first half before crumbling under the height, inside domination and outside shooting of teams like the USA, Greece, Angola and Argentina, the diminutive Filipinos finally avenged their series of defeats with a rousing win against their U.A.E hosts.
In the absence of shooting star Jolo Mendoza who was forced to sit out the last three games, Paul Desidero stepped up big-time to score 25 points and lead Batang Gilas to a consolation victory in a highly competitive tournament marked by their gallantry against almost insurmountable odds.
Mike Nieto and Michael Dela Cruz contributed 15 points apiece, Diego Dario added 13 and Arnie Padilla 12.
The Filipino boys, supported as always by a contingent of flag-waving, cheering fans working in Dubai who showed up for every game and took the losses in stride also had, at long last, something to cheer about as Batang Gilas stamped their class early in the game with an 8-0 run that gave them a 26-15 cushion at the end of the first quarter.
With Desiderio in the forefront of the Filipino?s offense with nine straight points, Batang Gilas went into the locker room at halftime with a comfortable 23 point lead, 49-26 and never looked back.
They pounded the hapless UAE youngsters in the third quarter outscoring the hosts 40-7 to give them a huge 89-33 lead going into the final quarter.
The 40-7 run was anchored by Desiderio who also got solid support from Mike Nieto.
It was more of the same in the final ten minutes where the load ballooned to as high as 68 points, 115-47 with just under 90 seconds to play before the boys relaxed and allowed the hosts to score the last four points for a final 115-51 count.
Click here to view a list of other articles written by Ronnie Nathanielsz.
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