Gilas Dominates Singapore To Stay Undefeated

(Press Release)

City of San Fernando, Pampanga – Gilas Pilipinas U16 Men stamped their class on a winless Singaporean side to stay undefeated in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup SEABA Qualifiers, 101-37, Monday night at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center.

Defense was key for Gilas as they limited Singapore to single-digit scoring in three of the four quarters to stay unscathed in the tournament.

Gab Delos Reyes came off the bench and personified this defense-first mindset as he was named the Best Player of the Game, tallying seven points, 13 rebounds, six assists, a steal, and seven big blocks. He had a game high of +51 in the 22 minutes he played in the match, further underlining his value on the court.

“It’s great to have a player like Gab because he works hard on defense,” said head coach LA Tenorio. “We need all our players to have this mentality because all of them can score but there are other things that we also need to pay attention to.”

Six Gilas players scored in double figures, led by Everaigne Cruz who had 14 points. The sweet-shooting Justin Hallare added 13, Ethan Tan-Chi scored 12, and Andwele Cabanero and Rayver Restificar picked up 11 apiece.

Birthday boy Travis Pascul almost notched a triple-double with 10 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists in only 19 minutes.

Singapore had an inspired start in the game as they scored early buckets against the Gilas offense. Things even got too emotional for them as Fred Leow was called for a technical foul for taunting as he screamed in front of Prince Carino after getting an and-one.

However, this good start was not enough to keep them in the game for long. Gilas went on a 20-0 run capped by back-to-back triples from Cruz to break the game wide open early.

Singapore did their best to slow down the offense of Gilas with a 2-3 zone defense, which was effective in spurts in the game against Thailand. But Tenorio made sure that his wards were better prepared for it.

“We expected them to zone us because we had our struggles against the zone,” he shared. “What I told them before the game was to just shoot. Sometimes we overthink against the zone. As long as the shots are within what we want on offense, they should let It fly. If they miss, then so be it.”

As a result, Gilas shot better from the field at 47%, aided by the 36 fastbreak points they picked up thanks to their tenacious defense.

“I think this was our best defensive game,” said Tenorio. “We were not needlessly gambling for steals. We were more disciplined, and it showed with our best performance so far.”

Tenorio opted to rest Jolo Pascual to prepare him for the tougher stretch ahead, and even CP Miranda played limited minutes with some discomfort in his knee.

“We can into this tournament with some injuries already because these kids play in different leagues,” said Tenorio. “But we must get used to this. We will play tougher opponents in bigger tournaments, and we want our players to know how to handle adversity.”

Gilas will take on fellow undefeated team Indonesia on May 28 before capping their preliminary round schedule versus Malaysia on May 29.