Gilas Youth suffers 62-point beatdown

Just two points in the opening period.

Gilas Pilipinas Youth’s first quarter output pretty much summed up the whole story of another humiliating defeat at the FIBA U17 Basketball World Cup.

The Filipino teen cagers were outclassed by Spain, 34-96, late Monday at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkey for their second loss in as many games in Group A. 

Days after absorbing a 59-point crushing at the hands of Lithuania, Gilas Youth turned into easy prey for the Spaniards, who had four players scoring in double figures.

Spain got its game going early with its fluid offense while making Gilas Youth bleed for points.

The Spanish side outscored Gilas Youth, 30-2, after the first 10 minutes of action. The Philippines’ lone basket in the hellish opening period came from a field goal by Joaqui Ludovice.

Gilas Youth’s beatdown booted the squad out of contention for a spot in the Round of 16.

La Roja’s depth was on full display with Maximo Garcia-Plata scoring 15 points off the bench on top of seven rebounds and nine assists. Spain had 52 bench points.

Guillermo Del Pino added 14 points while Ignacio Campoy posted a double-double of 13 markers and 11 rebounds for the Spaniards.   

Spain also dominated the boards, 71-22, and had 20 second chance points. The La Rojas were unstoppable inside where they scored 52 points in the paint.

Bonn Ervin Daja was the lone Filipino player in double digits with 12 points.