PHL team wins second straight in FIBA Asia U18 Championship

The Philippine U18 squad participating at the 22nd FIBA Asia U18 Championship cruised to its second straight win Saturday, easily disposing of Kazakhstan 83-69, in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Mario Bonleon topscored for the Philippines with 20 points on a 50% shooting clip. Rodolfo ALejandro added 18 points, while Kyle Suarez added 14. The two teams were tied at 18 at the end of the first quarter, before a late push in the second quarter had the Philippines leading by eight at the half, 38-30. The Zazakhstanis recovered in the third, narrowing the gap to three points, 55-52, but the hot shooting of the Philippines led to a 28-point fourth quarter to cruise to an 83-69 victory. The Philippines dominated Kazakhstan in the shaded lane, posting 28 points from the inside to Zakakhstan's six. The national squad also got a lot of contributions from their bench players, as their supporting squad outdid Kazakhstan 56-6. Last Friday, the Philippines outclassed Saudia Arabia, 95-52, in their opening game. Kyle Suarez had 21 points while Rey Nambatac pitched 18 in a game that saw the Philippines add at least 10 points to their lead after every quarter. The national team was up twenty points at the half, 49-29, before scoring 27 more in the third to go ahead, 76-45, heading into the fourth. In the final period, the Philippines took advantge of their large lead to give coach Olsen Racela the chance to field in his bench players. The Philippine bench was able to contribute 60 of the 95 points, outscoring the Saudi bench by 48 points. The national squad will face Iran on Sunday to finish off the preliminary round.