Photo credit: FIBA Asia
Japan U16 national team (2-0) defeated Gilas Pilipinas Youth U16, 73-67 in the preliminary round to claim the top spot in Group C at the 2022 FIBA U16 Asian Championship Tuesday at Al Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha, Qatar.
Yuto Kawashima led Japan with a huge double-double performance of 26 points (10/21 fg, 3/7 3pt, 3/6 ft) along with game-high 18 rebounds and 3 assists while Leon Watanabe added 16 points and 9 rebounds.
Caelum Harris paced Gilas with 18 points on 7-of-18 shooting, 6 rebounds, 2 steals and 1 assist in 31 minutes of play while Jared Bahay finished with 12 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 steals.
Japan advances to the quarterfinals while the Philippines (1-1) will face Kazakhstan (0-2) on Thursday, June 16 at 8:45PM [LIVE] for the slot in the quarterfinals. The winner will play unbeaten Australia (3-0).
The Scores:
JAPAN 73 – Kawashima 26, Watanabe 16, Ogawa 14, Ishiguchi 9, Rooney 2, Buto 2, Suzuki 2, Williams 2, Naito 0, Appeah 0, Sakihama 0.
PHILIPPINES 67 – Harris 18, Bahay 12, Mahmood 10, Konov 7, Gemao 6, Nieto 5, Competente 5, Bayla 4, Jones 0, Porter 0, Reyes 0, Romero 0.
Quarters: 17-14, 35-24, 49-38, 73-67.