Gilas Pilipinas' Terrence Romeo defies three Kuwaiti defenders as he zigzags his way to the basket in Friday's Group B game in the 2015 FIBA Asia championship at the Changsha Social Work College's Gymnasium in Changsa, China. Jay R. Gotera Saudi Gazette
MANILA — Gilas Pilipinas outclassed Kuwait, 110-64, a 46-point victory Friday that followed its 51-point demolition of Hong Kong, 101-50, the day before as it formalized its entry into the second round of the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship at the Changsha Social Work College's Gymnasium in Changsa, China. The Filipinos finished the first round with a 2-1 win-loss record and will meet the three qualifiers in Group A—Iran (3-0), Japan (2-1) and India (1-2) — in the second round beginning Sunday. Since the win over an eliminated team (Kuwait) is not counted in the second round, the Philippines will enter the next phase of the tournament with a 1-1 card. The Filipinos dominated the Kuwaitis on both ends of the court, almost scoring at will despite the Kuwaitis' highly physical plays. Gilas' top scorer Terrence Romeo finally had his breakout game in the tournament so far, leading the team with 19 points. Jayson Castro also remained red-hot, chipping in with 16 points. Calvin Abueva and JC Intal scored 10 points each, while Dondon Hontiveros added nine. Naturalized big man Andray Blatche scored eight points. Coach Tab Baldwin fielded all of his 12 players who all barged in the scoring column. Kuwait scored the first basket and fought competitively with Gilas in the early minutes. But then the Filipinos started firing on all cylinders, unleashing a 23-1 run for a 34-11 lead in the first quarter. Gilas continued its romp in the second quarter while giving no room to breathe for the hapless Kuwaitis who were left scoreless for almost 10 minutes. With a 26-0 blast, the Filipinos erected a 44-11 lead. Kuwait recovered somehow as Mashari Abu Dhom surprised Gilas with three successive three-pointers as the Kuwaitis outscored the Filipinos 11-2 to cut the deficit to 24, 46-22. After a timeout, the Filipinos put an end to the Kuwaiti surge as they once again torched the nets with a stream of baskets. As the game was winding down, Kuwaiti enforcer Addulaziz Al-Hamidi angrily confronted a referee for not calling a foul when Ranidel de Ocampo struck him on the mouth, bloodying his lips. De Ocampo was earlier hit by Al-Hamidi on the groin, which was also not seen by the referees. When the referee called a disqualifying foul on Al-Hamidi, the Kuwaiti big man tried to rush the referee but was restrained by his teammates. Al-Hamidi then threw a water bottle onto the court in frustration before leaving the arena. The Filipinos won despite shooting poorly from the foul line, missing 12 of their 31 free throw attempts. All teams take a break Saturday before plunging back into action Sunday. In other games Friday, Iran crushed Malaysia, 122-42, as the defending champion finished the first round in Group A with an unblemished 3-0 win-loss card. Malaysia failed to make it to the second round after suffering its third straight defeat. Also in Group A, Japan defeated India, 83-65. Korea routed Singapore, 87-45, to finish in Group C with a 2-1 record.
