Gilas routs hot-shooting Taiwan five
TAIPEI – After defending its turf in Manila in November, Gilas Pilipinas broke the heart of Chinese Taipei even more with a big 93-71 conquest of the home team before its cheering fans at the Taipei Heping Basketball Gymnasium here last night.
The Nationals endured Taipei’s torrid shooting early on, and methodically pulled away in the second half en route to a repeat win that boosted Team Phl’s quest for a return stint in the FIBA World Cup.
A big help came from Chiba where host Team Japan scored a shocking 79-78 win over Australia.
Victories by Gilas and Japan arranged a virtual playoff fight for No. 1 spot in Group B between Team Phl and Australia.
The Nationals face off with the Aussies in a keenly awaited rematch over at the Philippine Arena in Bocaue, Bulacan Monday. Australia prevailed over Team Phl in Melbourne in their previous tiff.
As in the previous Gilas-Taipei match, June Mar Fajardo dominated at the post, coming through with a game-high 22 points as they duplicated their 90-83 victory in Manila and thus caught up with the Aussies in the lead in Group B with their identical 4-1 win-loss record.
“We came to this game not thinking about Monday. Our effort was focused against Taipei. But now that’s done, it’s good as we have a momentum for Monday’s game,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes.
“But Australia dropped a game against Japan, and for sure, they will come out like wounded tigers,” Reyes added.
Against the Taiwanese, the Gilas bench chieftain said the key was the discipline showed by his troops in playing their game.
“We started strong as we knew they would start strong especially with Wen-Ting Tseng and Chin-Min Yang back in their lineup. We’re pretty happy with our start. Taipei shot the lights out but we expected it. We stayed patient,” said Reyes.