Gilas Routs Kazakhstan, Sets Up a Rematch With China
Gilas Pilipinas opened its Asian Games group stage with a 69-65 loss to Bahrain. On Saturday it answered with a 109-78 rout of Kazakhstan. Robert Bolick, a game-time call after tweaking his knee in the Bahrain game, scored 20 points, 13 of them in the first half. Jerrick Ahanmisi topped the scoring sheet with 22, hitting three straight triples in the fourth quarter and a fourth right before the buzzer to put the game away. Richard del Rosario, the assistant who has been running the Asian Games squad while Cone focuses on FIBA World Cup qualifying duties, called the shots, and it worked.
What’s on the line against China
That win sets up a Group C finale against China on Monday at noon, Manila time, at the Aichi International Arena. A win puts the Philippines into the quarterfinals outright. A loss still leaves a path in as one of the tournament’s best third-place teams, but nobody wants to lean on that math. Cone knows what his team is walking into. “We know we have an uphill climb but we’re undaunted by it, we’re not afraid of it,” he said. “We’re going to meet it head on and see what we can do.” Forward Zav Lucero was more direct: “We’re the underdogs, but we’re going to give them a crack at it.”
China isn’t limping in either
It beat Bahrain 105-59 on Saturday for its second straight win, with Liao Sanning scoring 23 and Li Yuezhou adding 18. Five players finished in double figures.
A rivalry with history
This isn’t the first time these two have met with something on the line. At the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China led by 20 in the semifinals on its home floor before Justin Brownlee sparked a comeback that carried the Philippines to a 77-76 win. Gilas went on to take the gold. China has been waiting three years to settle that one.
