Gilas Pilipinas crushes Kuwait, advances to 2nd round of 2015 FIBA Asia championship
Gilas Pilipinas demolished the hapless Kuwaiti national team from start to finish, en route to a 110-64 victory Friday night in Changsha, China. The 46-point victory comes a day after the Philippine team defeated Hong Kong by 51 points.
Terrence Romeo and Jason Castro led the Nationals with 19 and 16 points, respectively. Seven other Gilas players scored at least eight points. Naturalized Andray Blatche led the team with 10 rebounds while veteran player Asi Taulava had eight.
With the two blowout wins, the country will now advance to the second round of the FIBA Asia Championship. Gilas Pilipinas finished the first round at second place in Group B, behind the still-unbeaten Palestine team.
The Philippines and Palestine will join defending champion Iran, Japan, Hong Kong, and India in Group E. The second round will begin on Sunday, September 27. Gilas Pilipinas’ next three opponents are the following:
September 27 – Philippines vs. Japan (4:45 PM)
September 28 – Philippines vs. Iran (11:45 AM)
September 29 – Philippines vs. India (2:30 PM)
The Filipino Scribe contributor Roy Devesa earlier explained that Gilas Pilipinas’ road to the quarterfinals is relatively easy especially since it is heavily favored against Japan and India. The top four teams from Groups E and F after the second round will advance to the quarterfinals.
The champion of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championships will have a slot in 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Meanwhile, the runner-up, third, and fourth placers will proceed to a wildcard tournament which serves as a wildcard round for teams that didn’t qualify outright.
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