PH bows to Greece in FIBA Under-19
Credit to Author: JOSEF T. RAMOS, TMT| Date: Sun, 30 Jun 2019 16:12:15 +0000
Gilas Pilipinas Youth collapsed in the second half, falling into 69-85 loss to host Greece in its opening game of the 2019 International Basketball Federation (FIBA) Under-19 World Cup on Sunday at the Heraklion Sports Arena.
The Filipinos surprisingly led by 22-12 in the early going of the game but couldn’t handle the advantage, as the Greeks came out big in the second half completely snatching the edge, 63-57, in the end of third frame and held on to their lead until the end of the game.
The 6’11 AJ Edu suffered a knee injury in the first period and didn’t return for Batang Gilas.
Nikolaos Arsenopoulos powered Greece with 18 points while Aristotelis Sotiriou posted 16 points and collected nine rebounds. Zois Karampelas and Emmanouil Chatzikadis contributed 10 points each also for the Greeks.
The 7’2 center Kai Sotto, fresh from his US training, finished with 13 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks to lead the Batang Gilas. Gerry Abadiano added 13 points and seven rebounds while Dave Ildefonso tallied 12 points also for the Filipinos.
Gilas Youth meets powerhouse Argentina on Monday 1 a.m. (Philippine time) for its second game.
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