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By Ivan Saldajeno
MANILA--A day after dispatching Chinese Taipei's Team A, Gilas had to grind it out against Chinese Taipei's Team B.
Gilas still walked away with the win.
The Philippine national team went 2-0 against Taiwan's own national squads after defeating Chinese Taipei White, 93-82, in their Jones Cup meeting at the Taipei Peace International Basketball Hall in Taipei on Monday.
Gilas found itself in a hard-fought battle against CT White as the latter led for the first few minutes of the first quarter.
Gilas took the lead, 15-10, through a 9-0 run midway into the first canto.
CT White launched its own 9-0 rally to take a 22-18 lead early into the second quarter, and the game became tight for the remainder of the period.
Gilas waxed hot at the start of the third quarter, opening another 9-0 run to lead, 53-44.
Following a timeout, however, Chinese Taipei White answered with a 7-0 rally of its own to cut the lead to just two, 53-51.
Gilas regained control of the game and ended the third quarter ahead, 69-62.
CT White started the fourth quarter with an 11-5 run to come to within one, 73-74, but a three-pointer from Matt Wright sparked Gilas' breakaway that was capped by yet another trey, this time from RR Pogoy.
Wright finished with 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting, three rebounds, and two steals for Gilas, which moved to 2-1 in the tournament.
Pogoy added 15 points, one rebound, one assist, and one steal, while Jio Jalalon contributed 13 points, five rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
After playing so-so basketball in his first two games, Mike Myers had his best game so far with Gilas, tallying 14 points on 6-of-8 shooting and 14 rebounds.
Kiefer Ravena chipped in 10 markers, two boards, seven assists, two steals, and one block for Gilas, which will next face Japan on Tuesday.
Ed Daquioag, Von Pessumal, and Almond Vosotros were scoreless in their first Jones Cup stint for Gilas.
Chen Ying-Chun led CT White, which fell to 0-3, with 17 points, five rebounds, and five assists.
Kyle Barone added 16 markers, 10 rebounds, three assists, two blocks, and one steal, but he only made 2-of-7 field goals in the second half after going 4-for-4 in the first 20 minutes.
Box Scores:
Philippines 93-Wright 21, Pogoy 15, Myers 14, Jalalon 13, Ravena 10, Ferrer 8, Standhardinger 6, Cruz, 6, Daquioag 0, Paras 0, Pessumal 0, Vosotros 0
Chinese Taipei White 82-Y. Chen 17, Barone 16, T. Huang 13, G. Chen 9, Lee 8, Chien 5, Wen 5, H. Huang 4, Liu 3, Fan 2, Wu 0
Quarterscores: 18-20, 44-44, 69-62, 93-82
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