Batang Gilas’ most talented unit ever assembled still proved no match to European powerhouse Croatia yesterday.
The 10th-ranked Croatians dominated the 31st seeded Nationals behind a fluid ball movement and efficient shooting on the way to a wire-to-wire 97-75 victory as the FIBA Under-17 Basketball World Cup got going at the Newell’s Old Boys Stadium in Rosario, Argentina.
Top forward Matej Rudan led Croatioa with 16 points, spiked by four triples, while point guard Roko Gizdavcic accounted for seven of the team’s 28 assists, for an impressive start in Group D, considered as the “Group of Death” in the 16-team tournament.
Batang Gilas center Kai Sotto tallied game-highs of 23 points and 12 rebounds on top of two blocks in 31 minutes of play.
However, most of the Nationals proved sloppy on the offensive end as they turned the ball over 28 times, which the Croatians translated to 30 points, most of them off transition plays.
Guard Terrence Fortea came off the bench with 14 points and even tried his best to provide the spark for the Nationals where they pulled within 47-55 off one of his four triples midway in the third period.
But that proved to the the Nationals’ last hurrah as the Croatians buckled down to work anew and responded with a blinding 16-2 attack, putting them back in full control before leading by as many as 32 points in the final frame.
Although they were outrebounded by the Nationals, 46-36, the Croatians more than made up for it by drilling in 39 of their 80 attempts from the field, including 10 triples, and hounded their rivals with 19 huge steals.
-Jerome Lagunzad
