By: Ivan Saldajeno
Batang Gilas crawled back from a 12-point deficit to beat Japan in overtime, 113-105, in the fifth place battle of the 2014 FIBA Asia U-18 Championship in Doha, Qatar.
The Filipino team trailed, 67-79, with 7:27 left in regulation and was behind, 88-93, after two free throws by Taichi Aoki with 14 seconds left.
Kobe Paras, however, kept Batang Gilas in the game after following up on a Paul Desiderio miss in the ensuing possession.
Manuel Mosqueda immediately fouled Akito Uchida in the following play, but Uchida missed two free throws.
Paras grabbed the rebound and quickly passed it to Radge Tongco, who nailed a game-tying three-pointer with five seconds left.
Japan was not able to respond in the final play thanks to a gallant defensive stand by the Philippines.
Shota Tsuyama scored the first field goal of the extra session, but Batang Gilas controlled the game from there as the team led by as much as 11 late in overtime and never looked back.
Paras led Batang Gilas with 27 points, ten rebounds, four assists, and three blocks off the bench.
Go added 24 points off 5/9 shooting from deep and eight rebounds.
Uchida and Tsuyama combined for 70 points, but no other Japanese player scored more than 12.
Box Scores:
Philippines 113-Paras 27, Go 24, Dyke 18, Desiderio 17, Tongco 14, Santillan 6, Yu 3, Escoto 2, Mosqueda 1, Black 1, Caracut 0
Japan 105-Uchida 36, Tsuyama 34, Aoki 12, Mikami 8, Sumino 8, Watanabe 3, Tomita 2, Ide 2, Tsuruta 0, Motomura 0, Fukuoka 0
Quarterscores: 24-25, 49-46, 73-65, 93-93, 113-105
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