Gilas U18 crashed out of the FIBA U18 Asian Championships contention after absorbing a 99-83 beating at the hands of Lebanon Wednesday, Aug. 24, in their quarterfinals showdown at the Azadi Basketball Hall in Tehran, Iran.
It was a contrasting result after the Filipino cagers swept the group stage, beating the likes of Syria, Qatar, and Chinese Taipei over in Group C.
Gilas couldn't find its scoring touch as Mason Amos, who showed a stellar performance for the past three games, was limited to 11 points only along with seven rebounds while Kyle Gamber had 10 points and four assists.
Unlike in the group stage, the Filipino dribblers struggled from the field this time around and listed 29-of-52 (36.37 shooting percentage).
The Filipinos also missed a slot in the FIBA U19 World Cup as only the top four finishers will qualify.
Lebanon showed consistent shooting and later used a commanding second half to propel the Filipinos, firing 17-of-30 from beyond the arc.
The Lebanon side was already up by as many as 20 points after the second quarter before unloading a 14-2 run midway through the third period to even widen the gap to 25, 71-46.
That proved to be the end for the Gilas Youth as Lebanon continued to fire three-pointers and punish the Filipino dribblers with its torrid shooting.
Bryan Mansour led all scorers with 28 points, seven assists, and seven rebounds while Karim Rtail hammered down 25 points, six rebounds, and four rebounds for Lebanon.
With the loss, Gilas will be relegated to the classification games while Lebanon will advance to the semis round and face the winner between Chinese Taipei and Japan in another quarterfinals match.
Amos, who already committed to Ateneo, meanwhile, showed a glimpse of his A-game after being the tournament's top performer and scorer and listing 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, and 1.3 assists.