Casio fails to save gilas vs s. korea

JV CASIO scored 27 points but that was not enough to lift the Smart Gilas Pilipinas to victory as the Nationals suffered a 70-78 loss to South Korea yesterday in the William Jones Cup at the Hsinchuang Stadium in New Taipei City.

The Nationals dropped to 3-2 (win-loss).

Six-foot-7 Oh Se Keun and 7-foot-3 Ha Seung Jin had 19 and 16 points, respectively, for Korea, which stayed unbeaten after five games.

Smart Gilas Pilipinas takes on the winless United Arab Emirates today and closes out its elimination campaign against Japan tomorrow.

Meanwhile, the Energen Pilipinas kicked off their campaign in the Southeast Asian Games Basketball Association (SEABA) Under-16 Championship for Men on a high note as they blasted hosts Malaysoa, 91-64, Tuesday night at the Kuala Langay gym in Banting City, Malaysia.

Arvin Tolentino led the Nationals with 16 points and seven rebounds while Gelo Vito, Radge Tongco and Kyles Lao all reached double-figures.

However, head coach Olsen Racela was less than impressed with his wards’ performance. “Dapat mas malaki pa ang lamang,” he said. “But we didn’t play the way I wanted them to.”/Correspondent Jonas Panerio