Gilas Pilipinas Boys bucked some first game jitters before pulling away for good in the second quarter to open its bid for a spot in the FIBA U18 Asia Cup with a rousing 97-71 victory over host Malaysia in SEABA qualifiers at the MABA Stadium on Friday, July 19.

The heavy favorites to claim the lone spot in the continental showpiece and join fellow Asian powerhouses Iran, South Korea, China and Australia, the Filipinos lived up to the billing and tore the game apart behind a 28-7 second frame.

The Malaysians were actually holding their own against the fancied Filipinos at the end of the first quarter, only trailing by two points, 21-23, before guys like Andy Gemao and Wilhalm Cabonilas started to work and powered Gilas to the back-breaking run.

Gemao, now based in the US after spending high school with Letran, as expected spearheaded the attack with 17 points while Cabonilas towered over the Malaysians with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.

Fresh off the Gilas Boys stint in the U17 World Cup in Turkey, Joaqui Ludovice also made his presence felt off the bench with 11 points while Marc Burgos added a double-double of his own with 10 points and 11 rebounds.

Charles Esteban was the other double digit scorer with 10 points for Gilas which is set to face Thailand on Saturday, July 20.

The Thais dropped their opening game against Indonesia, 70-56.

Gilas had to overcome some hiccups in the first 10 minutes of the contest as Malaysia even briefly took a 21-19 lead. Head coach Josh Reyes then finally knocked some sense to his young wards who finally woke up in the second quarter, forcing the hosts to multiple turnovers to fuel the Filipinos’ running game.

When the dust settled, Gilas already took a 23-point lead at the intermission and even ballooned to as many as 28 points in the second half.

Yen Joon Chua and Kai Sheng Teng led Malaysia with 14 and 13 points respectively.