MANILA, Philippines – San Beda Red Cub guard Joshua Caracut saved Batang Gilas from another disaster as they squeezed out a 72-69 victory over Malaysia on Sunday (Monday morning Manila time) that helped them avoid an early showdown with Iran in the FIBA Asia Under-18 Basketball Championship in Doha, Qatar.
Caracut shattered a 69-all deadlock with a big three-pointer, his only fifth point in the game but was enough to carry Batang Gilas to their second come-from-behind win.
They won in similar fashion against host Qatar before a 44-point shellacking from Asian giants China in their last game.
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Still reeling from that big letdown against China, Batang Gilas went off to another slow start, 12-19, in the opening quarter and as many as 12 points down in the second period.
Ranbill Tongo again topscored for Batang Gilas with 22 points while Kobe Paras chipped in 12 points, four boards and three steals. Mark Anthony Dyke also played huge delivering 10 points and 10 rebounds while Paul Desiderio flirted with double-double finishing with nine markers and eight boards.
Gilas played within striking distance the whole game before serving the killer blow in the final 24 seconds. The hard-luck Malaysians failed to salvage the game as Joon Lock Wee missed his charities off an unsportsmanlike foul by manuel Mosqueda and a three-pointer in the ensuing possession.
The win pushed Gilas’ record to 3-2 good for third seed in Group E earning a lighter assignment against Chinese Taipei compared to powerhouse Iran in the knockout quarterfinals on Tuesday.
The winner will advance to the semifinals against the survivor of the Kazakhstan-China pairing.