Stacked against a young and developing Chinese Taipei squad, Gilas Pilipinas drew energy from the crowd to pull off an impressive 106-53 victory in the first window of the FIBA Asia Cup Qualifiers late Sunday at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Dwight Ramos delivered back-to-back baskets, including a breakaway dunk, to give the Filipinos a 22-13 lead in the final 1:33 of the first period to dictate the tempo and set the stage for the massacre.
The Taiwanese appear to be putting a premium on development as no one from the squad that defeated the Philippines in the 2013 FIBA Asia Championship was on the current roster.
Still, it served as a good test for the Filipinos as they were able to determine how well they could match up or even surpass the energy level of their young counterparts.
In fact, with just 12 minutes gone by in the match, Gilas coach Tim Cone had already fielded nine players, leaving naturalized player Justin Brownlee as the only member of his starting unit on the floor.
A Kai Sotto three-point play at the 6:22 mark of the second period gave the Filipinos a 38-18 lead and they were never seriously threatened from there.
The 7-foot-3 Sotto finished with a double-double performance of 18 points and 10 rebounds to go along with three blocks, proving that he is very comfortable with the system of Cone.
“Everyday, I just kept on getting better,” Sotto said.
“I’m getting a little bit more confident and getting stronger. I’m happy I was able to help our team win.”
