Former Sacred Heart School-Ateneo de Cebu forward Joshua Sinclair continued his breakout party on the international stage as he registered a double-double performance to lead the Batang Gilas Pilipinas past Malaysia, 87-68, in the 2016 SEABA Under-18 Championship on Monday night at the Angkasapura Lanud Hall in Medan, Indonesia.
Sinclair, the former Magis Eagle and Cesafi star who is now with National University, had 14 points and 11 rebounds laced with four assists to help the national youth team win their third game in a row and take a step closer to a berth in the finals.
Gian Mamuyac paced the team in scoring with 18 points. The other two Cebuanos on the team, Joshua Flores and JB Bahio, also had solid performances as the former had six points, 11 boards and three dimes while the latter finished with eight markers and seven rebounds.
The Batang Gilas actually got off to a rough start and trailed, 22-24, before opening the second with an 11-0 run that put them in front for good.
The Batang Gilas was playing Singapore as of press time.
The scores:
Philippines (87)—Mamuyac 18, Sinclair 14, Tibayan 11, Lee 9, Nelle 8, Yu 8, Bahio 8, Flores 6, Mendoza 5, Gozum 0, Madrigal 0, Alfaro 0.
Malaysia (68)—K. Soong 22, S. Rosli 10, J. Lee 8, P. Wong 7, K. Siew 6, Y. Liew 5, M. Chin 3, Y. Heng 2, W. Tan 2, J. Lim 2, Z. Thea 1, X. Ooi 0.
Quarter scores: 22-24, 46-40, 66-52, 87-68.