The Philippines’ Batang Gilas Pilipinas is scheduled for a head-to-head game against the team Russia at 1:30 A.M. on July 3, 2019 (PHI time) live from Heraklion Arena, Crete, Greece.
Batang Gilas are still searching for its first victory in the ongoing games of the 2019 FIBA U19 Basketball World Cup.
So the obvious did happen, AJ Edu unable to play after he suffered a knee injury in their tournament opener against the home team Greece.
Yet, that time around, the remaining Batang Gilas players has showcased their skills and even gave a scare against the Argentinian squad before the league took a day break.
Sean Dave Ildefonso went aggressive in scoring and tried his best to take over the slack left by his 6-foot-10 teammate.
Ildefonso logged 22 points plus his 10 rebounds. Kai Sotto boosted the Gilas squad with his 17 points and 8 rebounds output.
This early morning schedule at 1:30 AM (PHI time), the Philippines youth team will play versus team Russia.
Though the Russian ball-club don’t have a player that can out-match the height of Sotto but their main weapons are coming from their wings.
One of them is NIkita Mikhailovskii who made headlines during Day 2 of the tournament.
He registered a triple-double which was never been done since 2013 in the under-19 category. Mikhailovskii had 20 points, 13 rebounds, and 12 assists against team Greece.
The last time who achieved that feat is Dario Šarić who is now playing with the Minnesota Timberwolves in the NBA.
Batang Gilas is currently at the fourth spot of the Group C bracket before the Round of 16 phase will start.