Pour la Victoire! France U21 crushes Philippines U21 Semifinals ambitions, 90-65 (81106)Oslo, Norway -- With Philippines U21's best outside scorer,
Cornelio Porminal, on the sidelines due to conditioning issue, Coach Leo was forced to make a big adjustment, literally big, as Philippines U21 went with a big lineup. The Filipinos' bold move took France U21 by surprise in the first quarter as the Filipinos surged ahead 21-12, but that's about it as the French adjusted quickly and ran through the Filipinos' zone defense to ultimately claim a huge victory, 90-65.
"It was risky, but it's something I've been thinking about after learning about Porminal's condition last Friday", Coach Leo said in the interview. Asked if he will use this strategy again, he just shrugged and said, "Maybe, maybe not. The strategy backfired on us today, but I still see it as a decent weapon. For now, I just hope he [Porminal] can play next week and for everyone to be in tip-top shape for the games ahead."
France U21 got a lot of production from their guards and wings, led by
Sylvain Leclerc, who scored 18 points, and added 5 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.
Lionel Leroux contributed 13 points, while
Rodrigue Joachim and
Patrick Ferreira tallied 12 points each.
Jean-Charles Nourry had a field day on the defensive end, grabbing 9 rebounds and swatting 8 shots.
The Filipinos were led by
Bill Guerrero's 21-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Benigno Sasabo stepped up for the Filipinos, adding a double-double to his name with 11 points and 16 rebounds.
Feliciano Gaitano added 9 points and 8 rebounds, while
Gabo Familar dished out 8 assists. Turnovers were an issue for the Filipinos, giving the French 19 extra possessions.
Philippines U21 is now sporting a 0-4 record, and they find themselves fighting for survival and relying on other teams' results. To make the semifinals, they need to win their next 3 games, and hope for the teams with 3-1 record to lose, namely Hong Kong U21, Israel U21, Italy U21 and United States U21.
Speaking of United States U21, they are up next in the Filipinos' schedule. The Number 1 ranked United States U21 just lost a squeaker against Italy U21. The Philippines-United States game is scheduled on 16th of September, 1:30am (Manila time).
Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!
Points Leaders:Bill Guerrero - 21 points
Benigno Sasabo - 11 points
Feliciano Gaitano - 9 points
Rebounds Leaders:Benigno Sasabo - 16 rebounds
Bill Guerrero - 11 rebounds
Feliciano Gaitano - 8 rebounds
Assists Leaders:Gabo Familar - 8 assists
Feliciano Gaitano - 3 assists
Benigno Sasabo - 2 assists
- Leo