Gilas Pilipinas beats Chinese Taipei, remains unbeaten in World Cup qualifiers

Gilas Pilipinas had a slow start and a strong finish. KC Cruz

The Philippines successfully defended its homecourt against Chinese Taipei, 90-83, on Monday night to win its second straight assignment to open the Asian qualifiers for the 2019 FIBA Basketball World Cup.

Gilas Pilipinas bucked a slow start and finished strong down the stretch to put away the pesky Taiwanese side, which lost for the second time in as many games in the competition.

The home team got off to a sluggish start, trailing 19-5 to open the matchup. Gilas recovered quickly by scoring 10 straight points to come back to within striking distance.

The Philippines took the lead in the second period behind strong bench play by June Mar Fajardo and Kiefer Ravena, going into the halftime break with a 44-42 lead.

June Mar Fajardo was a tower of power for Gilas Pilipinas. KC Cruz

Gilas was only up by a single point before Jayson Castro, the hero of their opening win against Japan on Friday, scored on a three-point play. That touched off a furious 9-2 run that pushed the Gilas lead to eight, 84-76, with less than four minutes left.

Ravena drew the fifth and final foul from Chinese Taipei's naturalized star Quincy Davis, and scored two free throws to give the Philippines its biggest lead, 86-76, with less than two minutes remaining.

Castro put the finishing touches with a basket and two free throws, giving him 20 points for the night, the same total he had against Japan.

Gilas will return to Group B action in February to battle powerhouse Australia, which also swept Chinese Taipei and Japan in the first set of games. —JST, GMA News