MANILA, Philippines – Playing without its leading scorer Kieffer Alas, the Gilas Pilipinas under-17 team opened its FIBA U17 World Cup campaign with a 107-48 beating at the hands of Lithuania on Saturday, June 29, at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkiye (Turkey).
Gilas Boys had no answers to the seventh-ranked Lithuania from start to finish as they never led throughout the whole ball game and even trailed by as many as 63 points late in the final frame.
Five players scored in double figures for Lithuania, with Arturas Butajevas torching the Philippines with a game-high 22 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
For Gilas Boys, only CJ Amos breached double-digit scoring with 10 points as they badly missed the services of their top gunner Alas, who was ruled out of the tournament due to a knee injury he sustained during a tuneup game against Canada.
Kurt Velasquez backstopped Amos with 8 points on a lowly 3-of-14 clip from the field, while Bonn Daja and Noah Banal added 7 and 6 markers, respectively, for the Philippines, which is coached by Josh Reyes.
Lithuania wasted little time flexing its muscles against the Philippines as it immediately built a double-digit edge with 3:56 to play in the opening frame, 15-4, off a layup by Ignas Urbonas.
With Gilas Boys trailing by 17 points at halftime, 29-46, Lithuania then showed no mercy in the third quarter and outscored the Philippines, 35-7, for a whopping 81-36 cushion at the start of the fourth period.
Overall, Lithuania limited the Philippines to just 16-of-73 shooting (21.9%), while drilling a healthy 38-of-71 field goal clip (53.5%).
The much-taller Lithuanians also outrebounded the Filipinos, 61-32, while dishing out 32 assists, compared to the Philippines’ 8.
After suffering a 59-point loss to Lithuania, a bigger challenge awaits the Philippines on Sunday, June 30, as it faces world No. 2 Spain at 10:30 pm, Manila time.
Lithuania 107 – Butajevas 22, Mikalauskas 15, Sirgedas 14, Buika 12, Bulanovas 10, Urbonas 9, Vilkas 7, Deniusas 7, Liutkevicius 6, Strelciunas 4, Pocius 1, Norutis 0.
Philippines 48 – Amos 10, Velasquez 8, Daja 7, Banal 6. Williams 5, Morales 5, Chua 3, Ludovice 2, Diao 2, Arejola 0, Alegre 0, De Liaño.
Quarters: 23-13, 46-29, 81-36, 107-48.
– Rappler.com
