Gilas Boys’ World Cup hopes quashed

Sports

GILAS Pilipinas Boys succumbed to China, 103-107, to end their 2026 FIBA Under-18 Asia Cup campaign on a sour note on Friday, Aug. 21, at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium in Ahmedabad, India.

With the loss, Gilas failed to qualify for the Under-19 World Cup as it was relegated to the 5th-8th classification phase.

Gilas is already assured of coming up with a higher finish than its 10th-place showing in the 2024 edition of the tournament.

Chog Moral tallied 26 points and six steals, recording his best game in the tournament that proved not enough as Gilas couldn’t match China’s size and superior offensive firepower .

Luke Atacador chipped in 14 points, Ethan Aguas and JB Cagurungan each dropped 12 points while Aidan Green produced 11 points.

Wang Zichao topepd China with 23 points and four assists, while Chen Yuxiu poured in 23 points and six assists.

THE SCORES:

CHINA (117) – Wang 23, Chen 23, Hao 16, Yi. Zhang 16, Li 8, Yang 8, C. Zhang 6, Yu. Zhang 6, Yao 4, Lyu 3, Zhao 2, Liu 0.

PHILIPPINES (103) – Moral 26, Atacador 14, Aguas 12, Cagurungan 12, Green 11, Chio 9, Tubongbanua 8, Pasinos 5, Carino 4, Gish 2, Roquid 0.QUARTERSCORES: 33-20, 59-45, 87-68, 117-103.(CCM)