Energen books Last 8 seat

MANILA, Philippines - Energen Pilipinas broke through with unwavering firepower at endgame to repulse a gritty Chinese-Taipei side, 88-83, and advance to the quarterfinals of the 22nd FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship at the Buyant Ukhaa Arena in Ulan Bator, Mongolia yesterday.

The Filipino youths came through with a decisive 11-3 run in the last three minutes of the contest, turning a three-point deficit into a resounding victory for a place in the Last 8.

Jerie Pingoy, a Far Eastern U-FERN standout and the reigning UAAP high school MVP, sizzled with 25 points, including a crucial three-point play, while Jay Javelosa, a standout from Reedley, crashed the boards with authority and came up with a key block to anchor Energen’s stirring come-from-behind victory.

The Filipinos, who routed Southeast Asian rival Indonesia, 88-62, last Monday, thus moved to joint second in their group with their victims on 3-1 (win-loss) slates while booking a spot in the playoff round.

Powerhouse Iran, which walloped Energen, 93-72, Sunday, remained undefeated at press time and is expected to sweep its way to the quarters.

It was the second straight game that Pingoy led the team in scoring after a 16-point performance against the Indonesians while the 6-4 Javelosa, who finished with six points and eight rebounds, have been holding his ground against taller, heftier foes in the shaded lane.

Energen goes up against Bahrain at 2 p.m. today (Phl time), hoping to make it to the top two in the group and avoid meeting Asian powers China and South Korea in the quarters.

“The players followed the game plan to the letter,” said Energen coach Olsen Racela. “They sustained the playing level all throughout the game.

“We were down with more than two minutes left but the boys never gave up and my hats off to my coaching staff for a very good game plan,” he added.

Co-skipper Rodolfo Alejandro also stepped up against the Taiwanese, pouring in 22 points while Rey Nambatac, a Letran standout and the reigning NCAA juniors MVP, chipped in 10 points.

Down 77-80 with less than three minutes to go, the Filipinos unloaded an 11-3 binge fuelled by Pinggoy and the team’s solid defense anchored on Javelosa to turn the game around.

Energen Pilipinas, which swept the Southeast Asian Basketball Association U-18 Championship in Singapore last month to make it here, is out to improve on its fifth place finish the last time in Sana’A, Yemen while aiming for one of the three berths in the 2013 FIBA World Under-19 Championship in Prague, Czech Republic.

Gideon Babilonia, Kris Porter and Prince Rivero also provided the needed force inside as they neutralized Taipei’s big men.        – Joey Villar

The scores:

Energen Pilipinas 88 – Pingoy 25, Alejandro 22, Nambatac 10, Javelosa 6, Suarez 6, Cani 5, Olayon 5, Rivero 5, Babilonia 2, Porter 2, Lao 0, Bonleon 0.

Taiwan 83 – Lin 25, Li 16, Fan 16, H. Huang 9, Chiu 6, Lee 6, Wu 3, Lu 2, Chen 0, Cheng 0, T. Huang 0, Chin 0.

Quarterscores: 17-14, 43-34, 63-64, 88-83