DETHRONED champion China vented its ire on the Philippine youth team, hacking out an easy 85-55 win to advance to the battle for fifth spot in the International Basketball Federation Asia (Fiba) Under-18 Championship on Saturday in Tehran, Iran.
Hurting from their 59-62 quarterfinal loss to host Iran on Friday, the Chinese started slow as the Batang Gilas managed to tie the game at 27-all with 4:11 left in the second period.
But China ended the first half with a 15-6 run to enter the break with a 42-33 cushion.
The Chinese, who swept all of their five games in Group A, including a 95-66 win over the Philippines, were never threatened since then, as they padded the lead to 63-44 going to the final canto. Ziming Fan led China’s balanced scoring with 15 points and added 11 rebounds as the Chinese, as expected, dominated the boards, 62-36.
Theo Joshua Flores paced the Filipinos with 12 points, while Rendell Lee chipped in 10 markers.
PHL 5 Head Coach Michael Oliver did not utilize Team Captain Jolo Mendoza in the game.