THE Philippines absorbed a 52-82 loss to Australia on Wednesday in the Fiba Under-16 Asian Championship in Foshan, China.
Jay Rantall struck with 15 points, while Kobe Williamson added 14 points for the world’s No. 10-ranked Aussies.
They also got 11 points and seven rebounds from Luke Travers as the Aussies went on to sweep their two-game assignment in Group B and advanced to the quarterfinals.
The Philippines was relegated to the playoff round, where they will meet Hong Kong today for a chance to gain a quarterfinal seat.
Earlier, the Philippines came away with a 62-57 triumph over Malaysia, with seven-foot center Kai Sotto shooting 16 points and hauling 18 rebounds.
Batang Gilas led Australia, 11-8, on Sotto’s two charities, but the Aussies proved tough and pulled away on a pair of freebies from Kobe Williamson and a trey from Wani Swaka Lo Buluk in the second quarter.
McLaude Guadana and RC Calimag had double-digit outputs for the Philippines with 11 and 10 respectively, while Sotto was limited to nine points on 1 of 8 shooting from the field.
Rantall hit a 3-pointer to move the Aussies ahead by 10, 28-18, in the remaining 6:28 of the third,.
Later, Williamson’s basket handed Australia a 38-25 halftime lead.
Australia then unleashed an 8-0 burst behind the 1-2 punch of Williamson and Rantall in the third as they led by as much as 31 points.
The scores:
Australia 82—Rantall 15, Williamson 14, Travers 11, Capetola 9, Herbert 8, Wigness 8, Sawaka Lo 7, Jackson 6, Meakes 2, Madden 2, Tsapatolis 0.
Philippines 52—Guadana 11, Calimag 10, Sotto 9, Andrada 8, Padrigao 5, Fortea 4, Lazaro 2, Cortez 2, Chiu 1, Go 0, Balaga 0, Bautista 0.
Quarterscores: 18-13; 38-25; 73-40; 82-52.
