Gilas boys lose vs China, finish 4th; Alas named to All-Star 5

MANILA, Philippines – World Cup-bound Gilas Pilipinas boys settled for a fourth-place finish after an 87-59 loss to China in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship bronze-medal match Monday at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha, Qatar.

Like in the semifinal duel against eventual champion Australia, Gilas misfired and bled for only eight points in the third quarter that doomed its hopes of finishing at the podium.

The Filipino teens were outscored by their Chinese counterparts, 26-8, in the third period and never recovered from there on their way to a 28-point defeat.

Joaquin Garbriel Ludovice top-scored with 15 points as ace player Kieffer Louie Alas tallied 13 points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals for the wards of coach Josh Reyes, who still broke their seventh-place finish last year plus a World Cup ticket.

Alas, behind averages of 15.4 points, 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists, made it to the FIBA U16 All-Star Five led by MVP Oscar Goodman of New Zealand.

Also in the fray were Lachlan Crate of New Zealand, Henry Sewell of Australia and and Boyuan Zhang of China to complete the best teenage hoopers in Asia-Oceania zone heading into the 2024 FIBA U17 World Cup in Turkey.

Zhang erupted for 34 points to lead China’s commanding win over Gilas for the bronze medal.

Meanwhile, Dash Daniels had 17 points while Nash Walker added 14 points including the insurance basket in the last 17 seconds as Australia earned a 79-76 win over New Zealand to complete a three-peat.

Hayden Jones fired 31 points to spearhead NZ’s runner-up finish, an improvement from its third-place campaign last edition also held in Qatar.

Japan, Iran, host Qatar and Jordan finished in order to complete the Top 8 teams in the Asian youth