AFTER completing a sweep of its group play campaign, Gilas Pilipinas Youth’s hopes for a World Cup berth next year stunningly vanished into thin air yesterday.
A torrid-shooting Lebanon side clobbered the young Filipino cagers 99-83 in their knockout quarterfinals duel in the FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship at the Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran.
Bryan Mansour fired a game-high 28 points spiked by six three-pointers, on top of seven rebounds and seven assists for the young Cedars, while Karim Rtail also had 25 points, six boards, and four dimes.
Karl Kozah and Karl Zamatta also added 18 and 10 points, respectively for the Lebanese, who will clash with the winner of the quarterfinals tiff pitting Japan and Chinese Taipei.
It was a bitter end to the Josh Reyes-mentored Gilas Youth’s drive to qualify for the Under-19 World Cup in Debrecen, Hungary next year.
Gilas Youth wound up with a perfect 3-0 mark, counting an 84-73 triumph over Chinese Taipei last Tuesday night, in the pool stage but had no answer to Lebanon, which sizzled for 17-of-30 from deep.
Lebanon raced to a fast start and took a commanding 53-35 advantage at the half and still enjoyed an 80-53 bubble going into the payoff period.
A Mansour trey gave Lebanon its biggest lead at 93-56 at the 7:20 mark of the fourth.
Mason Amos, the tourney’s top scorer, was held to measly 11 points on 3-of-11 shooting, along with seven rebounds and two assists for Gilas Youth.
Kyle Gamber had 10 points, three caroms, and four dimes, while EJ Abadam, Luis Pablo, and Kobe Demisana all had nine for the Filipinos. — Michael Jugado
