Philippines settles for silver as China tops FIBA Asia U16 tourney

In the end, the Philippine Under-16 team was unable to better the efforts of their Gilas Pilipinas "kuyas."

China relegated the Philippines to second place in the 2013 FIBA Asia U16 Championship, never trailing in their 85-78 victory, Friday at the Azadi Sport Complex in Tehran, Iran.

However, the Philippines still qualifies for next year's 2014 FIBA Under-17 World Championship, to be held in Dubai.

The path of the U-16 team was similar to their Gilas Pilipinas counterparts, who finished second to Iran last August in the FIBA Asia Championship, but still booked a seat to the 2014 FIBA World Cup.

China led by as much as eight points, 22-14 in the first quarter, but back-to-back triples by Jolo Mendoza and Jose Go IV got their side within three, 22-20, only for Yongxuan Luo to put his side on top by two possessions, 24-20.

A triple by Chunqing Liu gave China their first double-digit lead, 40-30, with 2:14 left in the first half, but a late triple by Emmanuel Panlilo watered down their advantage slightly, 42-35 at the break.

The Philippines made some in-roads in the third, getting to within two, 49-47 on a a Paul Desiderio make, but they had to settle for a four-point deficit, 59-55, entering the final canto, thanks to Mendoza and Arnie Padilla closing out the period with baskets.  

In the fourth, China went up by as much as 12, 74-62, after Hao Fu made two at the foul line, but the Philippines kept at it, getting within seven on a put-back by Mike Nieto, 79-71 with 54 seconds still to play. China however showed they could score off put-backs as well, scoring on a second-chance possession with 28 seconds left to put the game away.

Jolo Mendoza poured in 20 markers to lead the Philippines, but he went 8-of-19 from the field and just 2-of-8 from three-point range. Mike Nieto had 13 points and eight rebounds, while Paul Desiderio tallied 11 points and five boards.

China drew a game-high 24 points from Yanhao Zhao, while Hao Fu poured in a dominant 22-point, 18-rebound effort, doubling his tournament averages entering the game. He also had four assists.

The Philippines gave up 32 attempts at the foul line to China, while taking just nine free throws themselves. Still, it was enough to register the Philippines as the only team to lose to China by single-digits in the entire tournament.

Joining China and the Philippines next year will be third-placers Japan, as they bested Chinese Taipei 85-72 earlier. - AMD, GMA News