RP 5 routs Sri Lanka, gears up for 'real test'

The Powerade-Team Pilipinas breezed past Sri Lanka, 115-31, for a rousing start in the 25th FIBA-Asian men’s basketball championship Thursday in Tianjin, China. Despite a tentative start, the Nationals still managed to pull away early in the first quarter as big man Japeth Aguilar made his presence felt inside to give the Philippines an early 18-4 lead. The Nationals later stretched it to 44-17 at halftime, before finishing off the Sri Lankans in the second half when they finally settled down. Jared Dillinger led RP with 21 points, Arwind Santos had 16 and Asi Taulava, Aguilar and Cyrus Baguio each had 15 in the win which coach Yeng Guiao described as a “good way to prepare against Japan and Korea." “The real test for us is Japan and Korea. We’re looking forward to playing against them in the next two days," said Guiao. The Nationals clash with the Japanese on Friday and then Korea on Saturday.

“I think this game is not an indication of how well we made our adjustment after the Jones Cup," Guiao noted. “We know basketball is not popular in Sri Lanka. But if this is cricket, they’ll beat us badly." But this is basketball and the Nationals beat the Sri Lankans badly. They practically dominated the country, whose known past time is cricket, in just about every department. The RP cagers clobbered the Sri Lankans off the boards, 63-21, with Taulava leading the way with 13 while Aguilar and Dillinger had 11 each. The Nationals also did well from the field making 57 percent of their shots (46-of-81) compared to the 19 percent of their opponents (10-of-52). They also had more assists, 19-3, and plenty of steals, 14-5. The Philippines also outscored Sri Lanka in points off turnovers, 30-2; points in the paint, 80-10;second chance points, 33-1; and fastbreak points, 39-2. Behind a 23-0 bomb, the Nationals finished off the match by holding on to their biggest lead of 84 points. - GMANews.TV