Gemao, Cabonilas steer Gilas Boys to rout of Thailand in FIBA U18 Asia Cup SEABA qualifiers

Andy Gemao and Wilhelm Cabonilas took turns in leading the Gilas Pilipinas Boys to an 87-53 blowout of Thailand as the youthful nationals remained undefeated in the 2024 FIBA U18 Asia Cup SEABA qualifiers on Saturday in Malaysia. 

Gemao, who was coming off a 17-point outing in their 97-71 thrashing of the home team on Friday, top-scored the Filipinos anew with 19 points along with four rebounds, two assists, and three steals as they improved to 2-0. 

Cabonilas, meanwhile, made sure to provide the help with 17 markers, nine boards, two dimes, one swat, and one block. 

The 18-year-old Gemao did all this despite going down with a minor foot injury early in the third quarter after he had an awkward landing following a layup that sent the Philippines to a 48-29 with still 9:49 to go in the frame. 

He subbed out and Cabonilas took care of the offense, firing two triples while also rubbing off on his teammates with Drei Lorenzo knocking down two three-pointers of his own as Gilas Boys entered the fourth enjoying a 73-45 cushion. 

There was nothing the Thais could do from that point despite the hot shooting of Pongsaporn Srijan and Victor Dhan Juergensen, who both nailed important long buckets for Thailand during the Philippines' third quarter surge. 

Srijan paced Thailand with 10 points, four rebounds, four assists, and two steals while Juergensen and Kevin Ciati each chipped in eight markers as they went 0-2. 

Gilas will look to go 3-0 on Sunday when it takes on Indonesia, which blew Thailand yesterday with a 79-56 mastery.  

The tournament serves as a pathway to the FIBA U18 Asia Cup set in September in Amman, Jordan. Only two tickets are up for grabs in the SEABA qualifiers. 

—JKC, GMA Integrated News