Gilas Youth finishes in 14th after loss to New Zealand

Gilas Pilipinas Youth lost to New Zealand, 76-70, to finish 14th place in the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Heraklion, Greece.

New Zealand made a late push in the end game to pull off the victory and take the 13th spot in the classification phase.

For Gilas Youth, it ended a campaign where it finished with a 1-6 record to take 14th against the world’s best. The lone win came against Asian neighbor China to arrange a match for 13th versus New Zealand.

Gilas Youth was still able to tie the game at 70 but the tie was broken after Flynn Cameron hit a driving lay-up with 51 seconds left in the match.

Several plays later, Gilas Youth had a chance to tie the ballgame but Gerry Abadiano failed to convert on a driving lay-up with nine seconds left. Carl Tamayo, however, was called for an unsportsmanlike foul in the rebound play, which led to Cameron hitting two free throws for a four-point lead.

Cameron was once again fouled by Gilas Youth and hit two free throws for the final score.

Tamayo had 24 points and 12 rebounds, and Dave Ildefonso and Dalph Panopio had 16 points each for Gilas Youth.

Scores:

NEW ZEALAND 76 – Cameron 21, Darling 16, De Geest 15, Oswald 6, Perrott-Hunt 5, Mete 4, Higgins 4, Moors 3, Faamausili 2, Mennenga 0, Poppe 0, Stephens 0.

PHILIPPINES 70 – Tamayo 24, Ildefonso 16, Panopio 16, Sotto 8, Abadiano 2, Chiu 2, Oczon 2, Torres 0, Fortea 0, Amsali 0, Spencer 0.

Quarterscores: 20-15, 45-37, 59-51, 76-70.

PHOTO: FIBA