By Jerome Lagunzad
Game Today
(Foshan Lingnan Mingzhu Gymnasium)
1 p.m. – Batang Gilas vs Hong Kong
Title favorite Australia turned every Batang Gilas’ trash into gold yesterday, leading to a resounding 82-52 victory and an automatic seat in the quarterfinal round of the 2018 FIBA Asia Under-16 championships at the Foshan Lingnan Mingzhu Gymnasium in Foshan, China.
Jay Rantall provided the offensive punch off the bench with 15 points while touted guard Tamuri Wigness overcame a rough shooting performance with an-all around display of eight points, seven rebounds, six steals and four assists as the world no. 10 Aussies proved too much for the error-prone Filipino dribblers.
Australia trailed by as many as three points early on but left Batang Gilas eating the dust when it shifted to high gear on the way to its second straight dominant victory and a sweep of Group B play.
The Filipinos, who turned the ball over 26 times that led to easy buckets by the Aussies in transition, dropped to an even 1-1 mark and will take on Hong Kong, which finished third in Group A, today in a knockout showdown for a quarterfinal spot.
McLaude Guadana and RC Calimag combined for 21 points to lead Batang Gilas’ attack, but 7-foot-1 center Kai Sotto struggled against the Aussies’ swarming defense, limiting him to just nine points on 1-of-10 shooting from the field.
Main gunners Terrence Fortea and Forthsky Padrigao typified the Batang Gilas’ miserable shooting clip as they missed all but three of their 17 attempts, no thanks to the Aussies’ relentless pressure.
Rantall came off the bench and helped change the complexion of the game as he hit a big three-pointer that somehow opened up the floodgates for the Aussies’ expected surge that Batang Gilas coach Mike Oliver feared the most.
