Gilas girls wind up sixth

Chinese Taipei dealt Gilas Pilipinas Girls a 103-72 beating in their classification match for fifth place to end their respective campaigns in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup at the Arena Seremban in Seremban, Malaysia.

The Philippines wasn’t able to solve the Taiwanese puzzle after suffering a 74-48 defeat in the group stage last Tuesday.

It didn’t help that the Gilas Girls only had a few hours of rest as they were coming off a stinging 82-50 defeat at the hands of China in the playoff round last Friday, missing out on a spot for next year’s FIBA Under-17 Women’s Basketball World Cup in the Czech Republic.

The Taiwanese started hot in the first quarter as Hsun Wen Chang buried a triple with 2:31 to cap a 21-7 run and never looked back.

A putback from Ying Rou Yu with a tenth of a second left in the fourth quarter gave Chinese Taipei its biggest lead of the game: 32 points.

The Taiwanese exploited the Philippines’ 23 turnovers with 35 fastbreak points and 32 easy points.

Chinese Taipei also imposed its might inside the shaded area, banging in 56 points.

Two Taiwanese cagers delivered double-double games for the Philippines with Zi Qiao Gao firing 26 points and 11 assists and Yu Tung Chang shooting 19 points and grabbing10 rebounds.

Ryanna Victoria Roman led the Philippines with 19 points while Makena Ramos had 15 points, six assists and five rebounds.

The Gilas Girls will stay in Division A despite finishing their campaign with only one win in five games in this year’s Asia Cup.