Gilas wallops Qatar to move to 19th Asian Games QFs
Gilas Pilipinas moved closer to the 19th Asian Games men’s basketball medal rounds after a dominant 80-41 win over Qatar in the qualification game for the quarterfinals on Monday at the Zhejiang University Gymnasium in Hangzhou.
The Philippines got off to a phenomenal start, with Arvin Tolentino’s triple pushing the first quarter lead up to 29-8.
Later, an 8-0 run that closed the second quarter pushed the advantage up to 57-23 entering the halftime break.
June Mar Fajardo and CJay Perez led the balanced offensive effort which saw seven nationals score eight or more.
The six-time PBA MVP and his fellow San Miguel Beermen had 12 points apiece. Calvin Oftana added 11 points while Japeth Aguilar and Justin Brownlee contributed nine markers each.
Coach Tim Cone’s wards shot 51 percent from the field and shut Qatar down to just 21 percent. Gilas also dished out 21 assists in an impressive display of team basketball.
The Philippines will move to the quarterfinals against Iran on Tuesday at 12 noon for a chance to better on its fifth-place finish back in 2018.
The scores:
Gilas Pilipinas (80) – Fajardo 12, Perez 12, Oftana 11, Aguilar 9, Brownlee 9, Alas 8, Kouame 8, Tolentino 6, Thompson 3, Newsome 2, Lassiter 0, Ross 0.
Qatar (41) – Muslic 12, Ndoye 7, Mousa A. 5, Ndao 5, Lashin 4, Haracic 3, Advic 2, Dieng 2, Darwish 1, Hajar 0, Abdelbaset 0, Talla 0. Quarter scores: 33-14, 59-23, 75-30, 80-41.
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