Batang Gilas upends Qatar, enters U18 QF

MANILA, Philippines - Batang Gilas overcame a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit in pulling the rug from under host Qatar, 82-79, to clinch a spot in the quarterfinals of the FIBA-Asia Under-18 Championship before a pre-dominantly Filipino crowd at the Al-Gharafa Gym in Doha, Qatar yesterday.

Trailing 53-68, with less than eight minutes remaining in the game, the Filipinos came alive and unleashed a strong finishing kick in nailing down a second win against a loss, good enough to book a spot in the quarters to the delight of the 3,000-plus supporters, mostly overseas Filipino workers.

The Phl boys crushed the Qataris with a 10-2 closing run in the last 1:19 of play.

Dave Wilson Yu led the Jamike Jarin-mentored Nationals with 16 points while Paul Desiderio, Ranbill Tongco and Kobe Paras contributed 13 points apiece for Batang Gilas, which is hoping to clinch a berth in the 2015 FIBA U-19 World Championship in Greece.

Batang Gilas, whose trip here is being bankrolled by the MVP Sports Foundation and Smart, was playing powerhouse China at press time and will be battling Southeast Asian rival Malaysia in its final second round schedule.

The Qataris turned the ball over three straight times in the dying seconds, allowing the Filipinos to turn a 76-79 deficit with less than a minute to go into a victory.

Batang Gilas survived an exceptional performance by Qatar’s Mohammed Abdulrahman Saad, who erupted for a tournament-best 35 points.

Saad had a critical turnover in the stretch before fouling out.

Al-Gharafa looked like Batang Gilas’ homecourt as Filipinos packed the stadium.

Organizers, in fact, scheduled the Filipinos to play in the final game or the main offering at 12 midnight (Phl time) to allow OFWs to fill the venue.

Powerhouse teams China, South Korea and Iran remained undefeated in three outings with routs of Jordan, 97-55, Hong Kong, 107-42, and Malaysia, 104-61, respectively.