RP Youth Under-18 sweeps SEABA Championship, qualifies for FIBA Asia tourney

The Philippine Under-18 youth squad completed a sweep of its SEABA opposition, to claim one of two berths for the region in the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship later this year, after trouncing Singapore 124-63, Wednesday at the Tawau Community Hall in Sabah, Malaysia.

The RP team finished with a mighty 3-0 record in the four-nation tilt. The winner of the on-going Malaysia versus Indonesia contest will be the other SEABA representative to the 2014 FIBA Asia U-18 Championship, which will be held in Qatar from August 19-28.

Singapore never tasted the lead, as the Philippines started on an 8-0 run, which they stretched to a 15-2 blitz, just three minutes into the game.

Up 30-17 after the first period, the Philippines produced their best quarter of the tournament, scoring 43, while holding their foes to just 15 markers in the second, good for a 73-32 buffer entering the intermission.

Come the third, charities by Leonard Santillan got the Pinoys past the century mark, 101-47, 12 minutes and change left in the game. Adamson Falcon Dawn Ochea then helped the squad taste their biggest lead of the game, 63 points, for the first time, with his score off missed free throws, 120-57, 3:30 remaining.

Paul Desiderio led seven Filipinos in double-digit scoring with 17 off the bench, on 6-of-11 shooting. Dave Yu and Josh Caracut added 16 apiece, while Thirdy Ravena stuffed the stats sheet with 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, 12 rebounds, three assists, two steals and three blocks.

Jia Hao Sim was the only player in double-figures for Singapore, coming off the pine to shoot 6-of-10 from the field to produce 15 points.

The Philippine U-18 team made 54 percent of their attempts, while holding Singapore to a 31 percent mark. They also had a massive 23-10 advantage in assists, 25-13 in steals. They also bullied their foes in the paint (70-30), and off miscues (40-10). - AMD, GMA News