NEW ZEALAND was too hot to handle by a young Gilas Pilipinas team in an International Basketball Federation (FIBA) World Cup Asia Qualifiers match on Thursday at the Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland, New Zealand.
The Tall Blacks—taller, quicker and obviously possessing more chemistry—dealt the Filipinos a 106-60 beating that was quite expected from a team that only had one veteran, Kiefer Ravena, from the Philippine Basketball Association.
The Filipinos hardly challenged the hosts. They fell to deficits of 10-23 and 21-47 at halftime, allowing the Kiwis to go undefeated in Group A at 4-0 for a ticket to the next round of the qualifiers.
Carl Tamayo, a University of the Philippines standout, finished with 16 points and five rebounds but suffered a sprained his ankle with eight minutes left in the game.
Letran’s Rhenz Abando tallied 11 points and Francis LeBron Lopez had eight points for the Filipinos, who had an atrocious 4 of 26 shooting from beyond the arc.
Dion Prewster scored 15 points Finn Delany posted 14 points with seven rebounds and Jordan Ngatai and Ethan Rusbatch added 12 points each for New Zealand.
Despite posting a 1-2 record, the Filipinos are guaranteed to also advance to the next stage after South Korea’s disqualification in Group A.
Gilas will face India on Sunday at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.