MANILA — No Jordan Clarkson? No problem!
Gilas Pilipinas, playing with just 11 men as Clarkson only arrived at the GBK Basketball Hall in Jakarta late into the third quarter of its match, blasted an ice-cold Kazakhstan squad, 96-59, at the start of their respective campaigns in the Asian Games men’s basketball competition on Thursday.
Gilas banked on a hot start as Kazakhstan could not make its field goals early on, only making one of 14 attempts in just the first quarter.
Kazakhstan began getting its groove in the third quarter, but Gilas had already secured a huge lead enough for the team to hold on until the end.
In his homecoming of sorts, Stanley Pringle, who played for the Indonesia Warriors in the ABL, tallied 18 points, four rebounds, two assists, and one steal in his first game for Gilas in the 5-on-5 setting.
Chris Standhardinger chipped in 15 points, four rebounds, and one steal.
James Yap added 12 points, six rebounds, one steal, and one block, while Paul Lee poured in 10 points all in the fourth quarter.
Anton Bykov led Kazakhstan with 13 points, five rebounds, and one assist.
Box Scores:
Philippines 96 – Pringle 18, Standhardinger 15, Yap 12, Lee 10, Tiu 9, Norwood 7, Almazan 6, Erram 5, Belga 5, Taulava 5, Ahanmisi 4
Kazakhstan 59 – Bykov 13, Gavrilov 9, Yergali 8, Zhigulin 7, Bazhin 6, Chsherbak 6, Kuanov 6, Marchuk 2, Maidekin 2, Yagodkin 0, Satkeyev 0
Quarterscores: 16-9, 41-20, 61-43, 96-59