MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas returned to its winning ways with a 79-63 victory over India in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian qualifiers at the Mall of Asia Arena on Sunday.
Days after their beating at the hands of the Kiwis in Auckland, the Nationals took a wire-to-wire victory to improve to 2-2.
The Filipinos jumped to an early double-digit lead led by Dwight Ramos and Kiefer Ravena. At the end of the first period, they were up, 21-10.
The offense continued to hum for the Philippines in the second frame where they ballooned their lead to as big as 21 points.
The Indians hardly threatened Gilas' lead save for the fourth salvo where a 10-4 start by India cut the home team's advantage to 15, 54-69, after having highs of as much as 24 points.
Ramos shone for Gilas with 21 points, five rebounds, two assists and four steals.
Ravena added 12 markers, four dimes, two rebounds and two steals.
Carl Tamayo chipped in a near double-double with nine points and nine rebounds. He also had three steals.
Muin Bek Hafeez topped the scoring column for India with 13 points.