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| Matt Rosser sealed Gilas' sweep-clinching win with a highlight reel dunk. Dennis Acosta/Dugout Philippines |
QUEZON CITY--Gilas completed a sweep of the Master Gameface MVP Cup with a 90-77 mauling of Chinese Taipei at the Smart Araneta Coliseum on Sunday night.
Gilas blew the game wide open late in the first quarter after the team closed the period on a 19-5 run to take a 27-15 lead.
The Nationals kept the double-digit edge for most of the latter part of the match, even swelling the gap to 20, 81-61, in the fourth quarter.
The Taiwanese squad tried to come back but could only draw to as near as eight points.
Andray Bltache saved the best for last as he poured in 18 points, 12 rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal for Gilas, which by virtue of winning the pocket tournament will take home US$25 thousand (almost PHP1.18 million).
Asi Taulava provided quality minutes for Gilas as he tallied 13 markers and six boards in a little over nine minutes of play.
On the other hand, Terrence Romeo struggled in a rare start for Gilas as the team opted to rest Jayson Castro. Romeo missed all but one of his seven triple tries although he still finished with 12 points.
Lu Cheng-Ju tried to carry Chinese Taipei in the fourth by scoring 14 of his 23 markers in the quarter.
Box Scores:
Philippines 90-Blatche 18, Taulava 13, Romeo 12, Abueva 11, Pingris 8, Hontiveros 7, Rosser 6, Intal 6, De Ocampo 3, David 3, Thoss 2, Norwood 1
Chinese Taipei 77-Lu 23, S.C. Chen 11, Liu 10, Tien 9, S.N. Chen 8, Tsai 8, S.H. Chen 6, Davis 2, Wu 0, Hung 0
Quarterscores: 27-15, 46-34, 73-59, 90-77
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