Argentina storms past Philippines in FIBA U-17

DUBAI – Argentina flirted with disaster before pulling off an 84-71 escape over the Philippines in the classification round of the Fiba U-17 World Championship Thursday night at the Al Shabab Arena here.

Even without their reliable scorer, Batang Gilas nailed 10 three-pointers in the second half, including seven straight in a furious chase that gave the Argentinians a tough fight.

Jollo Go hit six of the Filipinos’ 13 threes and finished with 27 points while Mike Dela Cruz and Paul Desiderio also sizzled from the arc as Batang Gilas came out with their best performance yet in the world stage.

“You can see the fighting heart of these boys and you can never question that,’’ said Batang Gilas coach Jamike Jarin.

Jolo Mendoza, who averaged 15.8 points after four games, pulled his right hamstring in the Round-of-16 against France, forcing Jarin to bench his main offensive weapon in the tournament for good.

The Argentinians advanced to the battle for ninth to 12th places against Greece while the Filipinos face the Egyptians in a bid to finish 13th in the classification ranking Friday.

“Argentina, they’re scared the entire game. We got Egypt tomorrow and we will just keep on fighting,’’ said Jarin.

“Argentina was unfortunate not to make it in the Round-of-eight (quarterfinals) but that’s a podium team. They can win a medal here in the world championship,’’ added Jarin.

A victory over the Egyptians will set up Batang Gilas in a matchup with the winner of the Japan-United Arab Emirates tussle for 13th place on Saturday.

Trailing by 18 points, the trio of Go, Dela Cruz and Desiderio fired threes one after another before Mike Nieto capped the run with a triple of his own that narrowed the gap, 71-78, less than a minute left.

But power forward Jeffrey Merchant converted his free throws and Agustin Delfino sealed the outcome with a freebie and a layup off a fastbreak.

“I was in tears after the game on seeing them play like that. As their father figure, you can’t ask for anything else,’’ said Jarin. “It was a joy seeing them fight.’’

The scores:

ARGENTINA 84 – Mas Delfino 20, Carvalho 16, Merchant 14, Delfino 10, Zurbriggen 7, Fernandez 6, Aliende 3, Riego 2, Fjellerup 2, Gallardo 2, Borsatti 2, Onetto 0.

PHILIPPINES 71 – Go 27, Dela Cruz 14, Mi. Nieto 11, Desiderio 10, Ma. Nieto 7, Navarro 2, Dario 0, Padilla 0, Abadeza 0, Escoto 0.

Quarters: 22-14, 35-27, 62-46, 84-71