From a mere one-month training, the Gilas Men’s 3x3 showed up and showed out, scoring an opening-day double over Mongolia and Sri Lanka to jumpstart its campaign in the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games here.

The Gilas women stamped their ticket to the quarterfinal round of the Asian Games women’s basketball division after blasting Hong Kong, 90-73, Sunday morning at the Aichi International Arena in Japan.  MANILA, Philippines -- The Gilas women stamped their ticket to the quarterfinal round of the Asian Games women’s basketball division after blasting Hong Kong, 90-73, Sunday morning at the Aichi International Arena in Japan.  Gilas remained unscathed through two games after back-to-back huge wins. The squad first defeated Kazakhstan, 86-58, before the huge win over Hong Kong.  Stefanie Berberabe paced the Filipina dribblers with 21 points, five rebounds and two assists. Afril Bernardino added 17 markers, 11 boards and four dimes, while Jhaz Joson had 15 points.  The two teams were kept in a close game through the midway point of the third quarter, with a triple by Tsz Kwan Li making it a 59-57 lead by the Philippines.  But Gilas stepped on the gas and left Hong Kong on the rear-view mirror with a backbreaking 16-3 run capped by a deuce by Afril Bernardino to push the Philippines ahead, 76-60, with 7:37 remaining.  Li and Tong tried to rally Hong Kong back into the game, but Bernardino, Joson, Camille Malagar and Berberabe put the finishing touches in the dominant win.  Malagar tallied 14 points for the winning team, while Elizabeth Means chipped in 11.  Li carried the offense for Hong Kong with 30 points, five rebounds and three assists, while Tan Fung Ma had 15 markers.  The Philippines will take on Japan in their final Group B play on Tuesday. The home team is also holding a 1-0 record thus far, before facing Kazakhstan Sunday afternoon.

Gilas Pilipinas' disappointing finish in the Asian Games is an opportunity for the team to look into ways to improve, former Gilas ace Jimmy Alapag said. 

It seemed strange that Gilas head coach Tim Cone didn’t call the shots against China at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games last Monday. Instead, assistant coach Richard del Rosario was at the helm. Not that Cone shirked away from the responsibility. He faced the music in the end and felt the pain of the 105-61 loss like everyone else on the embattled brigade.

Gilas head coach Tim Cone said yesterday the 12 cagers who answered the late call to suit up at the Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games were “the most enthusiastic team I’ve ever been around and no one can question how hard these guys played.”