Australia defeats Gilas in fight-marred game; 9 PHL players ejected

An ugly fight truncated the Australia's 89-53 victory over the Philippines in the FIBA Basketball World Cup qualifiers on Monday at Philippine Arena.

Nine Gilas Pilipinas players and four Boomers were thrown out of the game after the third quarter bench-clearing brawl.

The melee began at the 4:01 mark of the third quarter with Australia, 79-48, in control when Gilas Pilipinas guard Roger Pogoy and Boomers wingman Chris Goulding got tangled up on a drive.

Australia big man Daniel Kickert responded with a forearm on Pogoy, after which Jayson Castro hit Kickert.

All hell broke loose after that, with both teams getting in on the action.

Players from both sides traded blows, with Milwaukee Bucks big man Thon Maker even trying a flying kick on Terrence Romeo.

After a lengthy delay, the referees announced that the following Gilas players were ejected:

• Terrence Romeo
• Carl Bryan Cruz
• Jayson Castro
• Calvin Abueva
• Andray Blatche
• Roger Pogoy
• Troy Rosario
• Japeth Aguilar
• Matthew Wright

That left just three players, June Mar Fajardo, Gabe Norwood, and Baser Amer, to try to finish the game for Gilas.

Goulding, Maker, Kickert, and Nathan Sobey were ejected for Australia.

Fajardo and Norwood committed intentional fouls to get disqualified, forcing the referees to award the game to Australia at the 1:57 mark of the third period.

Despite the dispiriting defeat, the Philippines are still through to the second round of the qualifiers, finishing second behind the Boomers in Group B. Also making it to the next round is Japan, which defeated Chinese Taipei in the day's other Group B matchup.

The three teams will move into Group F of the qualifiers, where they will face Iran, Kazakhstan, and either Iraq or Qatar in another set of qualifying matches beginning in September. —JST, GMA News