FIBA U18 ASIA CUP: Gilas Boys avert collapse, edge Chinese-Taipei

Sports

GILAS Pilipinas Boys squandered a 26-point lead but Ethan Aguas came to the rescue to help the Filipinos escape with a nail-biting 89-88 win over Chinese-Taipei, 89-88, at the start of the FIBA Under-18 Asia Cup on Thursday, Aug. 13, at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium in Ahmedabad, India.

Aguas scored on a layup with 2.2 seconds left, enabling Gilas to avoid what could have been a heartbreaking defeat.

Gilas built what looked like a safe 26-point cushion, 55-29, early in the third quarter. The Filipinos were still ahead big, 83-68, in the final five minutes when Chinese-Taipei mounted a searing run and moved within 86-87.

Chinese-Taipei went on to seize the lead late in the game before Aguas’ delivered the game-winning basket.

JB Cagurungan topscored for Gilas with 21 points–all via three-pointers. Aguas wound up with 19 points and 10 rebounds while Prince Cariño and Bruce Tubongbanua chipped in 10 markers each.

Gilas’ next assignment will be on Saturday, Aug. 15, against Australia, which opened its campaign with a 102-32 crushing of Thailand.

THE SCORES:

PHILIPPINES (89) – Cagurungan 21, Aguas 16, Tubongbanua 10, Cariño 10, Moral 7, Gish 7, Roquid 6, Chio 6, Dayco-Green 4, Atacador 2, Pasinos 0, Lacson 0.

CHINESE-TAIPEI (88) – Liu 23, Coleman 22, Huang J. 15, Chen 7, Huang S. 6, Jhou 5, Weng 4, Chuang 3, Xing 3, Yang 0, Pan 0.QUARTERSCORES: 31-12, 53-29, 74-59, 89-88.(CCM)