Gilas Youth storm into B.League U16 bronze match

Gilas Pilipinas Youth defeated Tachikawa Dice, 105-79 , on Wednesday to advance to the bronze medal match of the Japan B.League U16 Challenge Cup at the Sumida City Gymnasium in Tokyo.

Lawrence Copia led the Philippines with 19 points as they improved to a 2-1 win-loss record and will compete at 1 p.m. (Manila time) with the opponent yet to be announced as of press time.

Entering the second quarter with a 29-21 lead, Ong’s layup with 9:45 on the clock sparked a 12-4 run as Gilas Youth dominated the game.

A couple of free throws from Jan Salazar with 4:35 left in the fourth quarter gave the Philippines its biggest lead of the game at 29 points, 100-71.

Philip Ong scored 17 points while Jayson Mercado Jr. had 15 points and nine rebounds for the Philippines.

The victory compensated Gilas Youth’s 66-73 loss to the Ryukyu Golden Kings earlier in the day, missing out on a chance to win the gold medal.

Down 64-70 with 29.1 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, Samuel Esomchi drained two free throws to cut the Kings’ lead down to four for one more push for a victory.

But Yugen Kawamitsu and Eiji Oshiro sank the last three free throws for Ryukyu to seal the win.

Oshiro led the Kings with 36 points, seven rebounds and three assists while Kawamitsu scored 26 points and six boards.

Esomchi paced the Philippines with a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds in a losing effort.