PH team rips Bahrain

ENERGEN Pilipinas started slowl but steadily gained steam to beat Bahrain, 99-72, and complete a sweep of their second round matches in the FIBA Asia Under-18 Championships in Ulan Bator, Mongolia yesterday.

Cebuano guard and current UAAP MVP, Jerie Pingoy scored 19 points to complement team skipper, J-Jay Alejandro’s 23-point output. Hubert Cani and NCAA MVP, Rey Nambatac also reached twin digits with 11 apiece.

The win put the Nationals at the top of Group F, along with co-leaders Iran and Chinese Taipei with identical 4-1 (win-loss) records.

The Nationals fell behind early, 13-22 and were down by as much as 14 points in the second period. They turned the game around in the third period where they outscored their opponents, 38-15 for a, 73-61 lead going to the final stanza. Pingoy, a former ace of the University of Cebu juniors squad, and Alejandro, each had 10 in that sizzling stretch. /Correspondent Jonas Panerio