At A Glance
- The Gilas Pilipinas Boys team yielded to China, 87-59, and missed out on the podium in the 2023 FIBA U16 Asian Championships at the Al Gharafa Sports Club in Doha, Qatar early Sunday, Sept. 24.
The Gilas Pilipinas Boys team yielded to China, 87-59, and missed out on the podium in the 2023 FIBA U16 Asian Championships at the Al Gharafa Sports Club in Doha, Qatar early Sunday, Sept. 24.

The Filipinos actually came close, 27-30, late in the second quarter before the Chinese embarked on a telling run to erect a 54-30 advantage early in the third quarter.
China locked down on Gilas especially in the third frame where it limited the Nationals to a measly eight points in the third quarter where the Chinese broke the game wide open and led by as many as 38 points.
Boyuan Zhang proved to be the biggest thorn to the side of Gilas, dropping 34 points spiked by seven triples.
Joaquin Ludovice led the Filipinos with 15 points while Kiefer Alas and Irus Chua chipped in 13 and 10, respectively.
Despite the back-to-back losses to wrap up the tournament, the wards of head coach Josh Reyes is coming home with heads held high after completing their mission to book a ticket back to the U17 FIBA World Cup.
Putting the cherry on top of the splendid performance, Alas was named to the tournament all-star five after averaging 15.4 points 8.6 rebounds and 2.6 assists in seven games highlighted by his best scoring performance of 29 points in Gilas' 64-59 win over Japan that clinched the Filipinos' World Cup return.