THE Gilas Pilipinas Youth squad paid a dear price for its outside shooting woes last Tuesday night.
The young Filipino cagers absorbed a 67-73 loss to Japan in the FIBA Under-16 Asian Championship at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha.
Down by 13 points in the fourth quarter, Gilas Youth charged back behind Fil-Am forward Caelum Harris and pulled to within 67-71 on an Alex Konov basket in the final 34.1 ticks.
But Konov misfired on a three-pointer and an Eijiro Ogawa bucket doused cold water on Gilas Youth’s last-ditch effort.
The tourney is a qualifier for the FIBA U-17 World Cup set in Spain next month. — Michael Jugado