BATANG Gilas settled for seventh place after pulling off a shaky 67-64 win over India in their consolation match in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Asia Under 18 Championship on Sunday in Tehran, Iran.
Fran Yu hit two pressure-packed free throws with 38 seconds left while Hariram Ragupathy muffed a potential game-tying three-pointer for India, which finished the tournament at eighth spot.
Team Captain Jolo Mendoza returned to action and finished with 15 points, while Yu added 14 markers for the PHL 5.
The Mike Oliver-coached squad had trouble in pulling away as the Filipinos, ranked No. 28, were leading by just three points, 54-51, against the No. 52 ranked India entering the final canto.
Batang Gilas unloaded a 10-3 run capped by Yu’s two free throws to erect a 64-54 lead with 5:11 remaining.
But India answered with its own 10-1 blast to threaten at 64-65 with 1:36 left in the game.
Yu then gave the PHL 5 a three-point cushion with two free throws and Ragupathy missed a three-point shot in the next play.
India got another crack to send the game in overtime as Mendoza turned the ball over, seven ticks left, but India could not get a decent shot as time expired.
PHL 5’s seventh-place finish was two slots down in its previous Fiba Asia U18 stint held in Qatar two years ago.
Vishal Kumar Gupta led all scorers with 20 points.