RP rips Yemen, places 5th in FIBA Asia U18 tilt

The Nokia Philippines U18 team used a 9-2 run early in the opening period as a take-off point for a 97-48 crushing of host Yemen in the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championship on Friday at the 22nd May court in Sana'a, Yemen. "It was a different day and a different game altogether. We just want to leave everything on the floor," said RP coach Eric Altamirano. "We have had a nice crowd supporting us here. We wanted to leave Sana’A with some happy memories for them." Joshua Angelo Alolino scored 18 points and had eight assists to lead the Filipinos to a fifth-place finish in the biennial event that offers three berths to the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship to be played in Latvia. The Nationals thus improved its seventh place finish in the 2008 edition in Iran. The Philippines ruled the event for five straight editions. The last time the country won the title was in 1982 in Manila. The U-16 core of the team placed fourth in the FIBA Asia Under-16 Championship in Johor Bahru last year. Alolino scored nine of his points in the first half as the Philippines effectively put the game away by erecting a 47-26 halftime spread. The Filipinos where never threatened after that. Alolino shot 7-of-11 from the field and had three rebounds and two steals in 24 minutes of action. Ateneo High School standouts Kiefer Ravena and Raphael Banal added 15 points each, while Jeth Rosario and Cris Michael Tolomia tallied 10 markers apiece. Sabri Ahmed Hamid Sadaqah was the lone double-digit scorer in Yemen’s losing cause with 16 points and five rebounds. The Nationals finished the tourney with a 6-3 record. The Filipino youngsters could have played in the semifinals but suffered an 81-64 loss to Chinese-Taipei in the quarterfinals. They defeated Japan (91-86) to arrange a battle for fifth place with Yemen. "We were just one quarter away from the semifinals. Chinese-Taipei had a key six to zero run at end of the third and another at the start of the fourth and that did us in. Before that, we felt that the game was very winnable," said Altamirano. "No excuses from us, particularly from me. We a offer this modest achievement to all Filipinos for their judgment and appreciation," he added. The Philippines posted a 2-1 record to finish second behind China in the preliminary round. The Nokia-backed squad beat Saudi Arabia (86-680 and Syria (61-60) but lost to China (83-75). The Filipinos absorbed a 76-69 setback to Yemen at the start of the second round but bounced back with consecutive wins against Japan (75-57) and Iran (68-59). Chinese-Taipei edged Iran, 64-60, to bag third place and join China and Korea in the 2011 FIBA U19 World Championship in Latvia next year. China, which placed fifth in Tehran in 2008, regained the title after posting a 103-80 rout of Korea. – Jon Perez/KY, GMANews.TV