Philippines def Malaysia, 75-52 [FIBA U16 Asian Championship | Sep. 20, 2023]

The Philippines dominated early on in a 75-52 win over Malaysia, setting up a dream matchup with a Quarter-Finals ticket on the line.

At the SEABA Qualifiers, these two teams had already played against each other, ending up with a similar result of the Philippines winning 94-52.

All fielded players for the Philippines got on the scoreboard, much to the delight of Elijah Williams who had 9 assists in this game.

Malaysia fought back with a well-contested second and third quarter where they were outscored by only three points but were ultimately unable to keep up with the speed of the Philippines.

The victory sets up a juicy matchup in the Qualification to the Quarter-Finals Round between the Philippines and Korea. The two played against each other in the first-ever edition of the competition. Even though the Philippines have never won against Korea at the youth level, the games have been generally intense between the two teams.

Stand out player: Kiefer Alas was the leader for the Philippines once again, this time coming out with 15 points, 13 rebounds and one block and steal each.

Turning point: The Philippines closed out the first quarter with a 17-0 run, more than enough to put themselves in a comfortable position to get the victory.

Stats don’t lie: The Philippines made sure to use advantage of their speed, scoring 30 fastbreak points in this game.