Basketball: France, Canada start with wins

An hour of reckoning with Tony Parker and France looms for Gilas Pilipinas, but only if the Nationals got past New Zealand late last night.

Coming from an event in Pampanga, the President headed to Mall of Asia Arena to show support for the Philippine basketball team when it faced France at the start of the FIBA qualifying tournament.

Blatche starred for the home team as he scored 14 of the Philippines’ first 20 points in the ballgame while Romeo strung together five consecutive points – three on a long range bomb and two more on a wide open fastbreak layup off a attractive quarterback pass courtesy of center June Mar Fajardo – to push the lead to double-digits. Canada won 77-69 win over Turkey on Tuesday.

Gilas still has a chance, though, if they can hurdle New Zealand in their second assignment on Wednesday.

The winners of the three tournaments get the final berths in Rio. Led by Carlos Arroyo’s 18 points, Puerto Rico saw a 27-point lead reduced to just 10 in the final quarter.

Webster, a 6-foot-4 guard who will be a senior for the Huskers this season, paced New Zealand with 25 points on 7-of-15 shooting, 11 rebounds and three rebounds in 32 minutes of work.

The leading Filipino scorer with 21 points was nine-year National Basketball Association forward Andray Blatche, who also secured eight rebounds and three steals.

Senegal faces Turkey on Thursday, with the victor getting the No. 2 spot from Group A and the loser eliminated. Romeo came off the bench with 19 points.

Joffrey Lauvergne and Kim Tillie contributed 10 points apiece for France, which converted 36-of-67 shots from the field (54%) as compared to Gilas’ 29-of-70 (41%) with 11 three-point shots.

Reggie Moore was the only Angolan in double figures with 10 points. Ioannis Bourousis added 16 points and nine rebounds. At right is Senegal’s Tristan Thompson.

For France, a victory over the Philippines will set them up for a much more important game against New Zealand, as they try to avoid an early collision course with Group A favorite Canada in the semis.