By REYNALD MAGALLON
Kiefer Alas caught fire as Gilas Pilipinas boys’ team made its title-retention bid apparent following a rousing debut against Malaysia, 94-52, in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship SEABA qualifiers in the GOR Kertajaya in Surabaya, Indonesia on Monday, July 17.
The Gilas boys were simply on point in every aspect of the game but particularly more impressive on the defensive end especially after limiting the hapless Malaysians to a measly two points in the second frame.
The Nationals fed off on the defensive stops as they put up 23 points during the stretch to build the sizable margin en route to their first win in the tournament Gilas last ruled in 2017.
After being cut in the last edition Gilas boys team, Alas strutted his wares in an explosive national team debut that netted him a game-high 27 points on perfect 4-of-4 shooting from deep along with seven rebounds and four assists.
Fellow NBA alum Irus Chua backstopped him with 16 points and eight rebounds while CJ Amos, brother of Gilas seniors and Ateneo big man Mason, also added 16 and 6.
With the Malaysians hanging tough late and trailing only by seven, 17-10 late in the opening frame, Gilas uncorked 14 unanswered points bridging the first two quarters to establish a commanding 31-10 lead.
A Malaysian player stopped the bleeding with a layup but that proved to be the only basket they would score during the second frame as Gilas went on a tear and scored the last 15 points in the first half for a 46-12 count at the break.
Malaysia put up a better fight in the second half but that hardly mattered with the lead seemingly already out of reach when Gilas built a lead that went to as high as 46 points in the payoff period.
Jia Yu Ivan Chia and Jian Wei Tan were the lone bright spots for Malaysia with 12 and 11 respectively.
