Energen Pilipinas bounces back strong, routs Indonesia in FIBA Asia U-18 tilt

FIBA Asia photo

Energen Pilipinas bounced back from its first loss of the tournament, handily beating SEABA rivals Indonesia, 88-62, to open its second round campaign in the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championships in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.

UAAP juniors Most Valuable Player Jerie Pingoy of FEU-Diliman scored 16 points while Mario Bonleon added 15 to pace the Philippines, which drew contributions from several players. Rey Nambatac had 11 points and nine rebounds, big men Prince Rivero and Kris Porter had eight apiece while two others scored seven.

Bonleon and Pingoy led the team in the early goings of the game, combining for 14 of the first 15 points for the Philippines. Bonleon scored seven of the first nine before Pingoy, who came in a substitute midway through the opening period rattled off the next seven Energen Pilipinas points.

The Philippines finished the first quarter ahead, 23-18.

They pushed the lead up to nine, 32-23, midway through the period, but Indonesia scored four straight points to cut it back down to five. But the Filipinos made a big 11-2 run behind Bonleon, who scored six points in the stretch. They closed the quarter leading by 15 points, 45-30.

Energen then opened the third on a 9-2 run behind Nambatac and team co-captain Rivero, who each had two baskets and an assist. With a huge 22-point lead, they cruised through the period before making another big run in the fourth. Nambatac and Pingoy led the team on a 12-2 tear that gave them an 88-57 lead, the highest of the game at 31.

The Filipinos outscored their foes 34-16 in the paint while capitalizing on the Indonesians 19 turnovers by scoring 22 points off of their miscues.

Indonesia, one of the three qualifiers from Group C, was led by Jan Panagan with 12 points. Andre Adrianno was the only other scorer in double figures with 11.

With the win, the Philippines solidified their hold on the third spot in Group F with a 2-1 record, carrying over their record against the other qualifiers from their preliminary group. Chinese Taipei, which defeated Saudi Arabia earlier, leads the group at 3-0 while Iran is second at 2-0 pending the result of their game against Bahrain.

The top four teams from the group qualify for the quarterfinals.

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