Beatdowns continue: Puerto Rico thrashes winless Gilas Boys by 45 in FIBA U17 World Cup

MANILA, Philippines – The Gilas Pilipinas under-17 team remained winless in the FIBA U17 World Cup after suffering yet another lopsided defeat, this time at the hands of Puerto Rico, 98-53, on Tuesday, July 2, at the Sinan Erdem Dome in Istanbul, Turkiye (Turkey). 

In contrast to their first two outings, where Gilas Boys were immediately put away by their opponents in just the opening period, the Filipinos actually got off to a great start against Puerto Rico with a 24-16 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

Gilas Boys were firing from all cylinders in the first 10 minutes of the ball game, shooting an efficient 8-of-13 field goal clip, including a near-perfect 5-of-6 mark from the two-point area. 

Unfortunately, the Philippines failed to sustain its fiery start as Puerto Rico turned things around in the second frame and outscored Gilas Boys, 32-6, for a 48-30 edge at halftime. 

Gilas Boys never got back to within single digits the rest of the way as the Puerto Ricans cruised to their first win of the tournament and handed the Filipinos – coached by Josh Reyes – their third loss in as many games.

Jordan Dill spearheaded Puerto Rico’s balanced attack with 15 points on 7-of-10 shooting, while Vincent Stewart posted a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Jahrel Vigo, Rogny Santiago, and Justin Roman, meanwhile, all had 10 markers each for the Puerto Ricans.

For the first time in three matches, two players scored in double figures for Gilas Boys, with Joaquin Ludovice finishing with 13 and Kurt Velasquez tallying 11 on a combined 8-of-26 shooting.

CJ Amos – who led Gilas Boys’ furious start – dropped all his 8 points in the first quarter, while Bonn Daja chipped in 7 markers. 

After a fourth-place finish in Group A, the Philippines hopes to pull off an improbable upset when it goes up against world No. 1 USA in the Round of 16 on Wednesday, July 3.

The Americans are coming off a historic 146-62 thrashing of China on Tuesday, setting a new record for most points scored in an U17 World Cup game. 

The winners in the Round of 16 move up to the quarterfinals, while the losers fall to the classification games.

The Scores

Puerto Rico 98 – Dill 15, Stewart 11, Vigo 10, Santiago R. 10, Roman 10, Santiago M. 9, Quinones 7, Cruz 6, Rosa 6, Montes 6, Pino 4, Colon 4. 

Philippines 53 – Ludovice 13, Velasquez 10, Amos 8, Daja 7, Banal 3, Chua 3, Alegre 3, Gomez de Liaño 3, Diao 2, Morales 1, Williams 0, Arejola 0. 

Quarters: 16-24, 48-30, 78-34, 98-53.

– Rappler.com