Gilas Pilipinas Youth warmed up for the gold medal match by pulling away from Malaysia, 96-61, in the FIBA U16 Asia Cup Seaba Qualifiers on Thursday night, May 29, at the Bren Z. Guiao Convention Center in San Fernando, Pampanga.

The win completed a perfect elimination round campaign for the Philippines (5-0) and gave them some momentum heading into the gold medal clash against Indonesia, still at the same venue.

The Gilas Boys needed to overcome a slow start as Malaysia kept in step in the early goings, 7-all, before a 13-run by the hosts blew the game open.

“Our turnovers [20], even though we won that much and had 27 assists, still it’s our mistakes that concerns me,” said head coach LA Tenorio. “I’m not worried about them scoring, they can score anytime. It’s about them playing within the system, that’s the challenge.”

Six players were in double figures for Gilas Youth — 15 points each for Travis Pascual and Jeremiah Antolin, 14 for Evereigne Cruz, 13 with 11 rebounds for Prince Carino, and 10 points apiece for Luisito Pascual and Mark Lumagub.

Ethank Tan-Chi had six assists; Travis Pascual, five; and Chris Paul Miranda, four. Luisito Pascual contributed five steals.

They are tipped to be in another dogfight against Indonesia in the final game, after having scraped by 77-68 in their elimination round match-up.

Indonesia also took care of business in its final preliminary round assignment, crushing Vietnam 74-51.

Both the Philippines and Indonesia have already secured their spots in the 2025 FIBA U16 Asia Cup in Mongolia in July by virtue of reaching the finals of the Seaba tilt, but regional bragging rights remain at stake in the gold medal game. (ABS-CBN News)