The score ended at 87-60 in favor of the Serbians, with Dave Ildefonso leading the way for Team Philippines, successfully scoring 18 points with 7-of-12 shooting. Big man Kai Sotto and National University (NU) Bullpup contributed 13 and 12 points respectively. Carl Tamayo chipped seven markers.
For Team Serbia, Filip Petrusev performed during the game with 17 points, 11 points alone in a crucial second-quarter 17-1 run. Teammate Marko Pecarski, who is being eyed by the National Basketball Association (NBA), was the highest pointer of the game with 21 points in total.
Being undersized, Team Philippines struggled with rebounds, only totalling 13 boards as a team. They were also limited in terms of shooting, only scoring 56 in the paint.
Gilas Youth is now set to participate in the classification phase, battling it out with Australia on Friday, July 5. The last time the two teams faced each other was in 2018, where the Filipinos suffered from a 34-point loss.
The Philippines’ highest placing of the tournament is during its inaugural season in 1979 finishing 10th place.
In the meantime, six-foot-ten Filipino-Nigerian AJ Edu has returned to the United States to rehabilitate his ACL tear, after seeing only two minutes and two seconds of action in Greece. In response, he shared with the media, “This is very disappointing. It’s something I have been thinking about all year – ever since we qualified. To go out right at the start was very disappointing. It’s the first time I have ever had a knee injury.” However, he added, “It’s quite unlucky but these things happen. It’s part of life. I’m gonna be back stronger. I’m not worried.”