Batang Gilas moved a win away from retaining its title with a massive 113-46 victory over Thailand in the 2017 Southeast Asian Basketball Association U-16 Championship at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
RC Calimag and Rafael Go led the national team’s balanced attack by collecting 20 points with Go also hauling 12 rebounds in the five-team qualifying tournament for this year’s FIBA-Asia Championship.
McLaude Guadaña, who finished with a triple-double in the Batang Gilas win opposite Indonesia, contributed 16 points while Rence Padrigao had a solid performance with 13 points, eight assists and eight steals.
Backup players Geoffrey Chiu and Raven Angelo Cortez had 10 points apiece off the bench – the latter grabbing 10 boards as the Nationals controlled the rebounding department, 68-38.
Six-foot-11 center Kai Sotto was held to just six points with only 3-of-10 from the field but waxed hot in the paint by grabbing 10 rebounds and swatting away three blocked shots.
