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Australia whips Batang Gilas by 30 in FIBA Asia U16


Tamuri Wigness and the Crocs go 28 for 71 against Kai Sotto and Gilas, who shot 15 for 49. Photo from fiba.com

THE Philippines could not sustain an early run, absorbing a 52-82 loss to Australia on Wednesday in the Fiba Under-16 Asian Championship in Foshan, China.

The Batang Gilas kept the game close in the early goings and even led, 11-8, but the Aussies were just too much and began to pull away in the second quarter.

Australia secured an automatic berth in the quarterfinals after sweeping Group B with a 2-0 record. The Batang Gilas cagers fell to second with a 1-1 record.

McLaude Guadana and RC Calimag were the only double-digit scorers for the Philippines with 11 and 10 respectively, while 7-foot-1 center Kai Sotto was limited to nine points on 1 of 8 from the field. Jay Rantall had 15 points, while Kobe Williamson added 14 points for the world No. 10 ranked Aussies, who also got 11 points and seven rebounds from Luke Travers.

Down by four, Australia went on an 8-2 run, with Rantall hitting a 3-pointer to make it a 28-18 game. Williamson’s basket gave Australia a 38-25 halftime lead.

Australia’s led swelled to 54-31 on an 8-0 burst led by Williamson and Rantall in the third. They led by as many as 31 points.

The scores:

Australia 82 - Rantall 15, Williamson 14, Travers 11, Capetola 9, Herbert 8, Wigness 8, Sawaka Lo 7, Jackson 6, Meakes 2, Madden 2, Tsapatolis 0.

Philippines 52 - Guadana 11, Calimag 10, Sotto 9, Andrada 8, Padrigao 5, Fortea 4, Lazaro 2, Cortez 2, Chiu 1, Go 0, Balaga 0, Bautista 0.

Quarterscores: 18-13; 38-25; 73-40; 82-52.


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