THE Philippines booked a ticket to the World Cup after surviving a scare from Bahrain, 67-52, on Thursday in the quarterfinals of the Fiba Under-18 Asia Championship in Nonthaburi, Thailand.
Kai Sotto displayed his true form with 21 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks and conspired with fellow giant AJ Edu, who delivered 16 points, 17 rebounds and two blocks for the Philippines.
The Filipinos emerged as Group B top seeds after the eliminations after sweeping aside Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates and China.
Against Bahrain, the team played with more energy and, behind the outside shooting of Sean Dave Ildefonso and inside baskets of Edu, they posted an early 20-11 lead.
Bahrain, however, stayed in the hunt in the second quarter and limited the Filipinos to a mere six points to wrest the lead, 34-26, before half time.
The Batang Gilas came back to life and regained the driver’s seat on an alley-oop play completed by Sotto that made it 38-36 at the 6:16 mark of the third period.
Miguel Andre Oczon made timely hits from the outside as the Filipinos held on to snatch the win.
Oczon finished with 10 points, and starting point guard Dalph Panopio only had four points but dished out eight assists.
Baqer Ali and Rashed Awadh topscored for Bahrain with 13 points apiece. Batang Gilas will face either Australia or Japan in the semifinals.
The Philippines is seeing action in the Fiba Under-19 World Cup since 1979. Just last month the Sotto-led team placed 13th overall in the Under-17 World Cup in Argentina.