Published July 6, 2019, 12:23 PM by Waylon Galvez

Game Saturday (Heraklion University Sports Hall, Greece)

10 p.m. – Philippines vs China

Gilas Pilipinas Youth remained winless as it fell to Australia, 82-60, in the consolation round of the FIBA Under-19 World Cup last Friday at the Heraklion University Sports Hall in Greece.

Australia started strong as it opened an 11-0 lead, enough for them to take control of the match where it led by as many as 25 points, 56-31, on a layup by Kyle Bowen with 4:26 left in the third period.

Sean Dave Ildefonso of Gilas Pilipinas Youth works his way against Australia (FIBA.com photo)

Australia’s 6-foot-11 center James Froling led the team with 13 points, 6-foot-7 forward Kody Stattman contributed 11 points, while guards Sean McDonald and Tyler Robertson added 10 points apiece as the Emus repeated against the Filipinos after a 77-43 win during the 2018 FIBA Under-18 Asian Championship semifinals last year in Thailand.

Kai Sotto, the 7-foot-2 center of the national team, collected 12 points and 12 rebounds, while Sean Dave Ildefonso – son of former two-time PBA MVP Danny Ildefonso – led the Philippines with 13 points and Gerry Abadiano had 12 points.

Australia will next play Latvia, with the winner facing either Argentina or host Greece to determine the ninth placer, while the losing team will meet the same team in the bracket for 11th place.

As for the national team, the setback kept the Filipinos winless in five matches, including 0-3 in the classification round in Group C, and an 87-60 loss to former champion Serbia in the knockout stage round of 16.

The national team is now playing for placing between 13th to 16th places in the tournament.

The setback, though, put the Philippines to an interesting face-off against Asian archrival China, which also fell to 0-5 in the tournament following a thrilling 87-84 loss to Latvia also Friday night.

The last time the two teams clashed was during the bronze medal match in the Under-18 Asian Championship, and China dealt the Philippines a convincing 76-57 beating last year.

The game between the Filipinos and Chinese is set at 5 p.m. Saturday (10 p.m. Manila time).

Tags: Asian championship , Danny Ildefonso , Dave Ildefonso , FIBA Under-19 World Cup , Gerry Abadiano , Gilas Pilipinas , Kai Sotto , Philippines , Sean Dave Ildefonso , World Cup