Gilas Youth in do-or-die encounter with Serbia

MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas youth squad went without a win in group play and found itself pitted versus world No. 4 Serbia at the start of the knockout stage of the FIBA U19 World Cup at the Heraklion Arena in Greece.

The National Youth suffered a 92-64 beating at the hands of world No. 19 Russia early yesterday morning in Manila and finished with a 0-3 mark in Pool C after earlier losses to Greece and Argentina.

And with little time to recover, the Phl youth squad was to plunge back into action versus the Serbians (at 11 p.m. last night Manila time) in a knockout Round of 16.

The Filipino teens had a couple of chances to salvage a win and avoid a pairing with the Serbians.

But with 6-foot-11 big man AJ Edu going down with an ACL injury in the opener, Gilas Youth bowed to the home team, 89-65, before falling short anew against Argentina, 77-72.

Then the Filipinos were simply off in their last game against the heavily favored Russians.

Aleksnadr Ershov led the Russian assault with 21 points, six rebounds, two assists and two steals in just 26 minutes of action.

Fresh from a 20-point, 13-rebound, 12-assist triple-double outing in their 83-75 win against Greece, Nikita Mikhailovskii also continued to impress with 16 markers, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Anton Kvitkovskikh and Sergey Dolinin chipped in 12 and 10 points, respectively, for a well-balanced Russian attack.

On the other hand, the 7-foot-2 Kai Sotto once again spearheaded Gilas Youth with 14 points, seven rebounds and six blocks.

Dave Ildefonso added 14 markers, six rebounds and five assists while Carl Tamayo posted 12 points and five rebounds.

Against the Serbians though, the Phl youth squad would need more than that especially from misfiring shooters like Dalph Panopio, Terrence Fortea, Xyrus Torres and James Spencer.

Other big men Geo Chiu and Rhayyan Amsali must also step up if they’re to stand a chance of advancing to the next round.

The scores:

Russia 92 – Ershov 21, Mikhailovskii 16, Kvitkovskikh 12, Dolinin 10, Kadoshnikov 9, Petenev 8, Vedishchev 6, Shcherbenev 5, Konovalov 3, Sorokin 2, Baryshev 0, Goldin 0.

Philippines 64 – Sotto 14, Ildefonso 14, Tamayo 12, Amsali 9, Abadiano 5, Spencer 5, Chiu 3, Fortea 2, Oczon 0, Torres 0, Panopio 0.

Quarterscores: 28-15, 49-30, 72-50, 92-64.