By REYNALD MAGALLON
The Gilas Pilipinas Boys bowed out of contention in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup after yielding to Japan, 85-61, in the qualification for the quarterfinals at the Prince Hamza Hall in Amman, Jordan on Friday, Sept. 6.
The Nationals simply had no answer to the size and length of the young Akatsuki as 6-foot-8 center Leon Watanabe towered over the Filipinos to power his squad to the convincing win that earned them a slot in the quarterfinals.
It marked the first time the Josh Reyes-mentored Nationals missed the quarterfinals of the tournament since 2006 .
Watanabe proved to be the biggest thorn to the side of Gilas, finishing with 15 points and six rebounds as Japan steadily built the lead from just four points at the end of the opening frame into a 14-point advantage heading into the final frame.
With the Filipinos also not getting into any sort of rhythm, the Japanese just went on and blew the game wide open as the lead reached as high as 24 points in the final frame.
Riku Segawa fired 13 points while Teruchika Naito added 10 points, six rebounds and four assists for Japan.
Mark Esperanza tried to carry the fight for Gilas with 16 points while John Earl Medina, after exploding for 30 against New Zealand in the last game, was limited to just 11.
With the loss, Gilas was relegated to the classification round, dashing all of its hope to finish into the Top 4 and make its return to the Gilas U18 World Cup in Hungary next year.
