Batang Gilas stuns China, faces Japan in quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines - Batang Gilas bucked the odds and shocked fancied China, 78-72, last night to seal a quarterfinal showdown with Japan in the FIBA-Asia Under-16 Championship at the Britama gym in Jakarta, Indonesia.

The undersized Nationals battled back from five points with two minutes to go, shutting down their taller rivals with a swarming defense while Kris Harvey Pagsanjan, Jason Credo and SJ Belangel and Jonas Tibayan combined for a strong 11-point windup to snatch the victory over the erstwhile unbeaten Chinese.

Batang Gilas thus ended up tied with China and Korea after the elims in Group F with 4-1 records.

The Filipinos, however, settled for the No. 2 spot in the next round with three quotient points with the Chinese gaining the top seeding with 20 following a 91-65 demolition of the Koreans in their first round meeting.

South Korea, which outlasted the Phl, 77-74, Monday, wound up as No. 3 with -23.

Batang Gilas thus sealed a quarters duel with Japan while China will face with the winner of the Kuwait-Indonesia duel at presstime. Korea faces Lebanon in tomorrow’s Last 8 phase with the tournament taking a breather today.

Group E topnotcher Chinese Taipei faces Thailand in the other quarters pairing.

Trailing by five with less than two minutes to go, Batang Gilas showed resolve, shutting down and outscoring China in the stretch to send the reigning three-time champion to its first defeat since the biennial tournament was first held three years ago in Johor Bahru, Malaysia.

After Bai Haotian buried a triple to give China a 72-67 lead with 1.55 minutes remaining, the Phl unleashed a decisive 11-point burst on a triple each by Pagsanjan, Credo and Belangel and a twinner by Tibayan while the young Gilas squad shut down the heavy favorites the rest of the way to steal the win.

The victory also avenged the Phl’s 66-85 loss to China in the semis in Malaysia in 2009 and a 78-85 setback in the finals in Iran two years ago.