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| Mitch Creek celebrates after a three. Richard Esguerra |
PASAY--Eight years on, Australia still knows how to silence a raucous Gilas Pilipinas crowd.
The Boomers returned to the Philippines with a bang eight years after the infamous events in Bocaue, delivering a 93-66 win against Gilas to cap the second window of the FIBA World Cup Qualfiiers on Sunday night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Despite Gilas showing how much they seemed to have improved in the first half, Australia still clobbered them in the end, pulling away with a 55-33 second half to seal the win.
Elijah Pepper went spicy for the Boomers, who completed a 2-0 road trip for the second window, with 28 points, one assist, and two steals.
Tanner Krebs added 18 points, five rebounds, three assists, two steals, and one block.
Justin Brownlee bounced back from lethargic game against New Zealand with a solid all-around game of 20 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, and one steal, only to fall short as Gilas went 0-2 at home.
However, Gilas will still move on to the second round of the road to Qatar as Guam got whipped by the Tall Blacks, 99-67, earlier Sunday.
