Batang Gilas survives Thailand scare for 2nd straight win

Samjosef Belangel scored 10 points and dished out three assists to lead the Batang Gilas past Thailand in the 2015 FIBA Asia U16 Championship. FIBA

MANILA, Philippines -- The Batang Gilas used a big third quarter spurt to break away from Thailand as they continued to roll with a 70-51 win Friday in the 2015 FIBA Asia U16 Championship in Jakarta, Indonesia. 

From a tight 30-27 halftime score, the Batang Gilas exploded in the third quarter outscoring Thailand, 28-9, to wrest full control of the game.

Team skipper Samjosef Belangel, Jonas Tibayan and Will Gozum sparked an 18-6 run  to open the third quarter and established a commanding 15-point lead, 48-33. They never looked back from there as they made a good follow-up of their 40-point rout of Bahrain last Thursday. 

Belangel and Kris Pagsanjan led the Batang Gilas' balanced attack with 10 points apiece while Gozum flirted with a double-double as he wound up with nine and 10 rebounds. 

Belangel, who hails from Bacolod and a product of Jr. NBA, also added three assists, two rebounds and two steals. 

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