By Lily O. Ramos
MANILA, (PNA) — The Philippine Junior Gilas team turned back a much-taller Kazakhstan, 90-88, in its opening campaign late Thursday night in the FIBA under-16 championship in Tehran, Iran.
The Kazakhs were hot on outside shots led by Leonid Voronushkin but the wily Filipinos found ways and means to shackle them then went on to outscore them in the final quarter, 23-16, enroute to their first victory.
Michael de la Cruz powered the Filipino dribblers, topscoring with 19 points as Andres Desiderio added 10 points.
Voronuskin had a game-high of 28 points in a four of eight shooting in the three-point area.
The Filipinos will next meet Chinese Taipei and hope to enter the next round with a clean slate.
The youngsters coached by Jamike Jarin and got to qualify for the event after dominating the Southeast Asian Basketball Association championship earlier this year in Yogyakarta, Indonesia.