ALLAN THE MAN

The Philippine national men’s basketball team cruised past Kuwait, 110-64, to have a strong finish to its group stage campaign in the in the 2015 FIBA Asia Championship Friday at CSWC Dayun in Changsha, China.

Terrence Romeo had his best game of the tournament so far, scoring 19 points. Jayson Castro also continued his fine showing for Gilas Pilipinas with 16 points.

Calvin Abueva added 10 points and eight boards, Dondon Hontiveros made nine markers and Andray Blatche had eight as all players from the team made it to the scoring column.

With the win, Gilas Pilipinas is now assured of a spot in the second round where it will face Group B’s top teams Iran, Japan and India.

Kuwait kept pace with the Filipinos in the early minutes but Gilas Pilipinas flexed its muscles later on.

Up by just one, 11-10, the Filipinos asserted their talent against their foes, forcing Kuwait to foul on almost every play that helped them get off to a 23-1 run for a 34-11 lead after the slow first period.

Gilas Pilipinas continued to shackle Kuwait in the second frame, not allowing the Middle East side after almost 10 minutes in the game. The Filipinos erected a 44-11 lead after their 26-0 run bridging the first two quarters.

But Kuwait had a short spurt, with Mashari Abu Dhom burying three triples as they scored 11 quick points to trim their deficit to 24, 46-22.

The Filipinos however regained their composure and remained in the driver’s seat in the remainder of the game.

Tempers flared in the closing seconds when Addulaziz Alhamidi lost his cool and confronted a referee after getting hit in the lips. Instead of defending a Gilas Pilipinas play, he instead stared at the official in one sequence.

Alhamidi was called with a disqualifying foul, but not before throwing a water bottle in frustration.

The Filipinos will take a break on Saturday before plunging back to action on Sunday.

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