Japan pulls plug on Gilas Youth’s world quest

Japan, behind big man Leon Watanabe and Riku Segawa, blew away Gilas Pilipinas Youth, 85-61, Friday in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup in Jordan, to pull the plug in the Filipinos’ bid to qualify for the 2025 U19 World Cup in Switzerland.

The Japanese went on a 14-4 tear at the start of the second quarter for a 32-23 lead with three minutes and 23 seconds left in the second quarter and never looked back.

Japan dominated the rebounding department, 41-29 and scored 44 points in the paint.

Watanabe led the pack with 15 points and also had six rebounds while Riku Segawa had 13 points and four assists as Japan advanced to the quarterfinal.

Mark Airick Reyes Esperanza scored 16 points for Gilas Youth.

The Philippines sorely missed the presence of Andy Gemao, who was sidelined due to a fractured hand in a tune up game before the tournament.

Despite this, Gilas Youth actually started strong with a 75-48 win over Indonesia last Monday.

It all went downhill from there as it suffered back-to-back losses to the Jordanians, 62-56 and New Zealand, 75-58.

John Earl Medina leads Gilas Youth in scoring with an average of 14.5 points in four games, highlighted by a 30-point outburst against the Tall Blacks with Esperanza not far behind with 13.0 points.