Gilas Pilipinas Boys bow to defending champs Australia in FIBA U18 Asia Cup 

Defending champion Australia proved to be too much for the Gilas Pilipinas Boys, blowing out the Philippines, 107-69, in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup on Saturday at the Veer Savarkar Indoor Stadium in Ahmedabad, India.

The Australians, who opened their title defense with a lopsided 102-32 over Thailand, unleashed a huge second quarter behind John Aryang and never looked back to remain spotless in the continental showpiece at 2-0. The men's youth team, who was coming off a narrow win over Chinese Taipei, slipped to a 1-1 card.

The Gilas Boys struggled offensively with JB Cagurungan and Ethan Aguas getting limited to just nine and six points this time after exploding for 21 and 16 markers, respectively, in their 89-88 escape against Chinese Taipei last Thursday.

George Green and Luke Atacador were the only Gilas players to reach double digits after dropping 12 and 10 points each as they absorbed a 38-point beating.

Gilas kept it close after trailing by just five at the end of first quarter, but Australia torched the Philippines from deep with Aryang hitting three triples in that frame to help the reigning champions establish a 56-34 cushion at halftime.

Australia continued to connect from three-point range in the third period with Antonio Browne and Josh McCann combining for three triples as they raced to an 81-55 advantage.

The Gilas Pilipinas Boys failed to mount any comeback attempt from that point on, converting just 14 in the final period and allowing the Australians to score 26.

7-foot big man Yahya Basaran led the way for Australia with 17 points laced with eight rebounds while Aryang and Bailey Hanson chipped in 16 and 14 markers each.

Gilas will look to bounce back on Monday against Thailand at 4 p.m.

Scores:

Gilas Pilipinas 69 — Atacadaor 12, Green 12, Gish 9, Cagurungan 9, Chio 9, Aguas 6, Cariño 4, Moral 4, Tubongbanua 2, Bautista 2, Lacson 0, Pasinos 0.

Australia 107 — Basaran 17, Aryang 16, Hanson 14, Browne 13, Fa’ale 12, Riddle 12, McCann 11, Hamilton 6, Cook 4, Evic 2, Akhuar 0.

—JKC, GMA News