By CARLO ANOLIN
Gilas U18 absorbed a 99-83 beating at the hands of the sharp-shooting Lebanese squad in their quarterfinal showdown Wednesday, Aug. 24, at the Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran, Iran.
The loss was a bitter to swallow after the Filipino cagers swept their group stage, beating Syria, Qatar, and Chinese Taipei in Group C.
Gilas couldn’t find its scoring rhythm as Mason Amos, who led the team in the first three games, was limited to 11 points only along with seven rebounds while Kyle Gamber had 10 points and four assists.
Unlike in the group stage, the Filipino dribblers struggled big time from the field, making only 29 of 52 tries for 36.37 percent.
With the loss, Gilas will be relegated to the classification games while Lebanon will advance to the semis round against the winner between Chinese Taipei and Japan.
With the loss, Gilas will be relegated to the classification games while Lebanon will advance to the semis round against the winner between Chinese Taipei and Japan.
More painful than that, the Filipinos will be missing the FIBA U19 World Cup as only the top four finishers will qualify.
Lebanon showed consistent shooting and later used a strong second half attack to pull away for good.
In all, the Lebanese made 17 of 30 attempts from the 3-point zone.
The Lebanon side was already ahead by as many as 20 points after the second quarter before unloading a 14-2 run midway through the third period to even widen the gap to 25, 71-46.
That proved to be the end for the Gilas Youth as Lebanon continued to punish the Filipino dribblers with its torrid shooting.
Bryan Mansour led all scorers with 28 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds while Karim Rtail hammered down 25 points, six rebounds, and four rebounds for Lebanon.
