U16 Philippine squad ekes out a win versus Kazakhstan

The Philippines squeaked past Kazakhstan 90-88, Thursday at the Azadi Sport Complex in Tehran, Iran, to tie Chinese Taipei in Group D of the 2013 FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship.

The win put the Philippines at 1-0, equaling the record of Chinese Taipei in the three-squad Group D. Those two sides play later on Friday, with a berth in the next round at stake.

Down 72-67 at the start of the fourth quarter, the Philippines took the lead for good on a two-pointer at the 3:13 mark by Richard Escoto, 86-85.

A pair of charities by Leonid Voronushkin made it a one-point affair, 89-88, with 1:59 on the clock, but a split at the line by Escoto padded the PHL lead slightly, 90-88, 1:04 left.

Escoto then gave up a foul on Voronushkin, but he missed both. Team captain Mike Nieto stole the ball back after a Matt Nieto turnover, but the Philippines was unable to add to their tally, failing to get a shot off in time.

With a second left, Voronushkin had an attempt at a three-pointer for the win, but Matt Nieto rejected the shot to seal the victory.

Michael Dela Cruz came off the bench for a team-high 19 points, canning four triples. Paul Desiderio added 16 points, seven rebounds, two steals and a block, while Escoto managed a double-double of 10 points and 19 rebounds.

Leonid Voronushkin led all scorers with 28 markers off the bench on 19 field goal attempts.

The speedy Philippine squad got a 23-12 advantage in turnover points, as well as a 10-2 edge in fast break scoring. - AMD, GMA News