SMART-Gilas defeats Chinese Taipei B to notch second win in Jones Cup

InterAKTV file photo/Niko Bolante

The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team cruised to its second victory in as many games as it routed a young Chinese Taipei B squad that just couldn’t keep up, 99-68, in the 34th William Jones Cup in Taiwan.

Former San Beda star Garvo Lanete, the second youngest player on the squad, led the team with 20 points while four other Filipinos finished in double figures as they blew out the very young Guang Hua squad, whose oldest player was Lo Yu-Chun, who is 24 years old.

The game started close, with the score knotted at 13-apiece after the first six minutes of the game. But Gary David sparked a big 13-1 run for the Philippines as they grabbed a double-digit lead and never looked back.

The Philippines led by 23 points at the half, before pushing it to as high as 41 on a Lanete basket that made it 98-57 with a little over three minutes to play.

Lanete proved that he could score in bunches, scoring seven points in an 11-4 run to end the second quarter and all of a 7-0 blast in the fourth that spanned about one minute.

Larry Fonacier, Sonny Thoss, Marcus Douthit and LA Tenorio all scored in double-figures for SMART-Gilas.

The team gets a day off Sunday before resuming its campaign against South Korea on Tuesday.

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