Gilas stays hot, secures Group E top spot

MANILA, Philippines -- Gilas Pilipinas secured the top spot heading into the knockout phase after blasting past India, 99-65,Tuesday at the end of the second round of the 2015 FIBA Asia Men's Championship in Changsha Social Work College Gymnasium in Hunan, China. 

Gilas streaked to its fifth straight win since opening the tournament with a shock loss to already ousted Palestine (73-75) but not without a scare from India, which came into this game with a three-game win streak. 

Gilas trailed early on but recovered its bearings in the second quarter before breaking away towards the end of the game to emerge as the top team in Group E with a 4-1 win-loss mark. 

Iran also ended up with the same record after a 94-48 rout of Gilas tormentor Palestine earlier but fell to second place by virtue of win-over-the-other rule. 

Gilas will face the no.4 seed in Group F, which will be a toss-up between Jordan and Lebanon scheduled later in the day. 

After only managing 16 points in the opening period, the Filipinos found their groove in the final three quarters. 

Terrence Romeo led five Gilas players in double figures with 20 points as he keyed a searing second quarter fightback along with Ranidel de Ocampo to turn the game around. 

De Ocampo chipped in 11 of his 13 points in the first half helping Gilas establish control, 42-36, at the turn. They were never seriously threatened from there as Gilas methodically tore India apart to run away with the lopsided victory, a fitting follow-up to a huge 87-73 upset of defending FIBA Asia champion Iran yesterday. 

Andray Blatche added 15 points, three rebounds, two assists and a game-high five steals. 

Gilas put up another big defensive effort coming away with 15 steals led by Blatche's five.  The Filipinos also forced 22 turnovers which led to 16 fastbreak points. 

Calvin Abueva (12 points, seven boards, two steals) and Marc Pingris (12 points, four rebounds, two steals) also came up big while Castro, who had 26 against Iran, had a quiet 12 points. 

The tournament will take a break Wednesday and will resume with the knockout crossover quarterfinal round on Thursday.