Gilas boys battle Korean foes for quarters spot

MANILA, Philippines — A familiar foe stands in the way of Gilas Pilipinas once more.

The Gilas Pilipinas boys collide with archrival South Korea in a knockout setto with a ticket in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship quarterfinals on the line at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha, Qatar.

Game time is at 12:30 a.m. (Manila time) with the Filipino teens eyeing a breakthrough win against their counterparts from South Korea.

Gilas, which finished seventh last edition also in Doha, is yet to score a victory against South Korea in the Asian youth tourney, bowing in their three meetings. The team suffered losses in 2009 (83-73), 2011 (67-58) and 2015 (77-74).

Now, they lock horns once again with the winner gaining a shot at automatic quarterfinalist Japan, which swept Group B.

Both teams are coming from a one-day break after the group phase, where they had contrasting campaigns against heavily-favored bets. Gilas finished second in Group D with a 2-1 card behind leader China (3-0) as South Korea struggled to a 1-2 finish behind New Zealand (3-0) and Jordan (2-1) in Group C.

The Philippines bowed to China, 84-67, but bounced back with blowout wins against also-ran Kazakhstan, 66-42, and Malaysia, 75-52.