NONTHABURI (FIBA U18 Asian Championship 2018) – China against the Philippines was one of the most anticipated games ever since the schedule was released for the FIBA U18 Asian Championship and it lives up to the expectations. The Philippines came out with a hardfought win, 73-63.

A block by AJ Edu on Guo Haowen’s driving attempt in the last minute shutdown the hopes of China’s intense comeback attempt. China had been chipping away at a lead as big as 18 down to only 6 points in the fourth quarter before Edu’s monster rejection.

Edu finished the game with another monster line of 13 points, 14 rebounds, and 5 blocks.

With plenty of size and skill on the court, the tension and physically was dialed up to the max from the very beginning. The Philippines attacked China aggressively every time they got the ball and China struggled to stay in front of their opponents. By the end of the first quarter, Guo Haowen did have 9 points for China, but Jie Xu and Wang Quanze already had two fouls each to their names.

The turning point came in the third quarter when the Philippines burst open an 18-4 run. Sean Dave Ildefonso (18 points) was the main contributor of the run with a total of 8 points including two three-point shots during the stretch. Ildefonso’s back-to-back triples gave the Philippines an 18-point win, their biggest of the game.

China never gave up and strategically got back into the game. They continuously dumped the ball into Haoran Jiang in the post and once he scored a couple of post up baskets, the floor opened up for Guo Haowen to attack. Haowen finished with 24 points and 6 rebounds with most of his damage coming from the fourth quarter surge. An agile drive to the basket cut the Philippines lead down to 6 points with less than two minutes to go and the crowd started to feel the momentum going to China.

The Philippines floor general, Dalph Panopio, had been struggling with foul trouble as well and was brought right back in once the lead dwindle down to 6. He immediately nailed an ice cold jumper to stop China in their tracks.

The aforementioned rejection by Edu on Haowen sealed the deal leaving the Philippines as the undefeated champs of Group C. They will get a one-day rest while China has to play Indonesia in the Playoffs to qualify for the Quarterfinals.

FIBA