Gilas Youth crumbled late in the game and suffered a 109-83 beating at the hands of Australia Friday, June 17 in the 2022 FIBA U-16 Asian Championship at the Al-Gharafa Sports Club Multi-Purpose Hall in Doha, Qatar.
The heartbreaking loss meant that the Philippines failed to book a ticket to the 2022 FIBA U-17 World Cup in Spain next month.
Kye Savage lived up to his surname and exploded with 27 points built on a 6-of-10 shooting from the three-point line while Joshua Dent flirted with a triple-double performance of 17 points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, and three steals for Australia.
Tristan Devers and Carlin Briggs also chipped in 14 and 10 points, respectively.
The Filipino cagers saw their early 17-point lead in the second period turn to dust as the Aussies fought back in style and closed out the first half trailing by four points only, 51-47.
It was a nip-and-tuck affair before Australia took full control of momentum and led by as many as eight points, 76-68, heading into the payoff period.
The Aussies kept the Filipinos at bay and even built a 14-point lead capped by Briggs' layup with 4:33 remaining, 82-78.
Caelum Harris' dunk in the ensuing play stopped the bleeding for Gilas but a 12-point deficit was just too much to overcome.
Australia uncorked a commanding 8-0 run sparked by James O'Donnell's jumper and highlighted by Savage's back-to-back triples to pull away for good en route to a 20-point advantage, 100-80.
From that point on, Australia continued scorching Gilas as the Filipinos were held scoreless until the last 11 seconds with Alexander Konov scoring the last point with a three-pointer.
Renzo Competente paced Gilas anew with 18 points and four rebounds, Harris finished with 14 points and four rebounds while Konov and Jared Bahay added 13 points apiece.