MANILA – Batang Gilas survived a second half run by Egypt to escape with a 70-69 victory in the classification round of the 2018 FIBA U-17 World Cup on Saturday night (Sunday in Manila) at the Union Athletic Club in Santa Fe, Argentina.
Kai Sotto led the way with double-double 28 points and 17 rebounds, Ilonggo Gerry Abadiano added 15 markers, while Rence Padrigao and Raven Cortez had 10 points each for the Philippines.
Aly Abdelrahman Khalifa, meanwhile, finished with 17 points, while Youssef Osama Elmadawy and Omar Tarek Samir Mohammed Morsy had 12 and 11 points for Egypt.
Batang Gilas opened the match with a 14-6 edge behind shots from Abadiano, Sotto, Padrigao, and Shawn Tiu. Egypt cut the deficit to 6 but 3 points from Abadiano gave the Philippines a 17-8 edge.
Inside baskets from Sotto early in the second quarter allowed Batang Gilas to pull away further 37-18 after an Abadiano triple. Egyptians slowly clawed its way back to trim the deficit 26-41 at the half.
Egypt continued its run in the second half as it cut the deficit to 50-55 before pulling even closer 66-67. But three free throws from Sotto extended Batang Gilas’ lead back to 70-66 with just five seconds left.
The Michael Oliver-mentored squad will still have a chance to go up to as high as 13th place in the tournament if its defeats New Zealand in its final match on Sunday night (Monday in Manila)./PN
