By Adrian Stewart Co

Former Washington Wizards and Brooklyn Nets center Andray Blatche had his best game for the Philippine men’s national football team, Gilas Pilipinas, as they cruised to a 93-75 victory over Kazakhstan over the weekend at the Saryarka Velodrome in Astana, Kazakhstan. The win earned the Philippines a spot in the 2019 FIBA World Cup, which is scheduled to take place from August 31 to September 15 in China.

Blatche tallied 41 points, 13 rebounds, three assists, and four steals for Gilas; while Jayson Castro added 15 markers, including a perfect 4-of-4 shooting from the three-point area.

Qualification was incumbent on how the Philippines compared to the fourth place team in Group E, Lebanon. Gilas ended their campaign with a 7-5 record against the 6-6 result offered by their Lebanese counterpart.

Blatche was blazing in offense from the start as he drained 17 of the team’s first 19 points, giving them an eight-point edge. Kazakhstan made their move late in the quarter to come to within one point, trailing 22-21.

Gilas then took a 31-26 lead early in the second on a trey from Castro and layup by Blatche.

While the Kazakhs responded and built up a 39-36 lead, a triple by Marcio Lassiter and a jumper from Paul Lee put the Philippines back on top with a 45-40 halftime lead.

The Philippines continued its run in the third quarter as it surged to a 57-45 lead on hits from Blatche and Japeth Aguilar. Kazakhstan rallied to come within 60-54 but eight straight points from Castro propelled the Philippines to a 15-point advantage.

Kazakhstan later managed to come within 12 early in the fourth but Gilas poured it on after a layup by June Mar Fajardo, a triple from Lassiter, and free throws by Blatche for its biggest lead of 93-73 on a triple by Lee./ASC, WDJ