The Gilas Pilipinas boys team's World Cup bid was off to a rough start, dropping its opener against China, 84-67, in the FIBA U16 Asian Championship at the Al-Rayyan Indoor Hall in Doha, Qatar in the wee hours of Monday, Sept. 18.
 

The Filipinos simply lost steam in the second half to which the Chinese took full advantage of and built a double-digit margin they managed to protect until the final horn.

It was a tight ball game at the break with both teams knotted at 43-all before China decided to tighten up its defensive screws, limiting Gilas to just 24 points in the final two quarters to pick up its first win in the tournament which dangles four spots in the FIBA U17 World Cup in Turkey next year.

Kiefer Alas tried to keep Gilas in the game, dropping 20 points and eight rebounds but the Nationals struggled heavily when China began clamping down on the 6-foot-2 guard.

Cletz David Amos and Nathan Velasquez had 13 and 12 points, respectively, but most of their points came in the first half.

In contrast, China had five players with at least eight points led by the 17 points of Boyuan Zhang and the 14 of Wenhao Fu.

China outscored Gilas 24-16 in the third frame before putting up a strong finish in the final quarter where it limited the Filipinos to just eight points while exploding for 16 to blow the game wide open late.

Gilas faces Kazakhstan next in hopes to pick up its first win in the tournament. The Nationals need to finish within the top 2 of its group to advance to the quarterfinals.