Without star Kieffer Alas who suffered a sprained ACL in a tuneup match against Canada, the Gilas boys absorbed a heavy beating from Lithuania in a disappointing start to its FIBA U17 World Cup campaign.
Lithiuania hardly broke a sweat in its 107-48 demolition of Gilas Pilipinas Youth in the FIBA U17 World Cup at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Turkey on Saturday, June 29.
The Lithuanians raced off to a scintillating 19-9 burst capped by Ignas Urbonas’ split from the stripe with 1:06 remaining in the first period.
They were simply unstoppable from there.
It was Arturas Butajevas who tospcored for Lithuania with 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting from the field. He also grabbed nine rebounds.
Kajus Mikalauskas finished with 15 points, while Sirgedas and Dovydas Buika had 14 and 12, respectively.
In the third period, Lithuania further buried the Filipino dribblers after Erikas Sigredas sank a triple with four minutes and forty seconds to go to erect a comfortable 69-31 advantage.
He would uncork another triple at the 5:23 mark of the final period to give Lithuania an insurmountable 96-38 buffer on the way to the smashing win in Turkey.
Gilas simply had no answer to the world’s No. 5’s onslaught.
The Nationals, who are playing without Kieffer Alas due to a knee injury, were paced by Cletz David Amos’ 10 points.
[ALSO READ: Despite missing FIBA U17 World Cup, Kieffer Alas' ACL "intact and strong" after MRI]
Kurt Velasquez had eight markers to go with six rebounds, while Bonn Daja and Noah Banal combined for 13 points.
Gilas will next face Spain on Sunday, June 30.