WHILE the Philippines was getting whipped by New Zealand in the first half, naturalized center Ange Kouame took the social media to express his sadness of not suiting up in the third window of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

“Damn…I wanna play,” said Kouame, who was ruled out due to a meniscal sprain and partial ACL tear, with a tired face emoji on his Twitter account.

Without the 6-foot-10 Kouame, the Tall Blacks fashioned out a wire-to-wire 106-60 victory over a shorthanded Gilas side to complete a four-game sweep of Group A assignments yesterday at the EventFinda Stadium in Auckland.

New Zealand, which also defeated the Philippines, 88-63, last February, raced to a 47-21 lead at the break and never looked back to protect its undefeated first round record.

With only 11 players in their disposal, the Gilas could not match the tremendous size advantage the Tall Blacks have.

The Philippines, which dropped to 1-2, will take on India to wrap up Group A action on Sunday night at the Mall of Asia Arena.

“We have to learn from this game and move on for this Sunday’s game. Everything that happened today, we have to learn from it. And when we go back to the Philippines, we have to take care and focus on the next one,” said SJ Belangel.

Collegiate champions Carl Tamayo and Rhenz Abando were the bright spots for Gilas.

One of the vital cogs in the University of the Philippines’ title run in the UAAP last May, Tamayo was the Gilas best first half performer with nine points, including five straight early in the first period. He eventually finished with a team-high 16 points and five rebounds.

A NCAA champion from Letran who is making his national team debut, Abando finished with 11 points in 16 minutes of action.

LeBron Lopez had eight points, Dwight Ramos contributed six points, nine rebounds, four assists and two steals, while Kiefer Ravena also scored six markers and dished out two assists.

The Tall Blacks opened the game by scoring the first six points and built a 23-10 advantage late in the first period after Taylor Britt drilled in two free throws.

The Philippines was held to just eight points in the second quarter as it shot 24 percent from the field.

Dion Prewster took the scoring mantle for New Zealand with 15 points to go with two assists while Finn Delany added 14 points and seven rebounds.

Ethan Rusbatch and Jordan Ngatai each scored 12 points, Corey Webster was solid again in orchestrating plays for the Tall Blacks with 11 points and five assists while Shane Ili had 10 points, four steals, two assists and two boards.

The scores:

New Zealand (106) — Prewster 15, Delany 14, Rusbatch 12, Ngatai 12, Webster 11, Ili 10, Vodanovich 8, Britt 7, Cameron 6, Smith-Milner 5, Timmins 4, Harris 2.
Philippines (60) — Tamayo 16, Abando 11, Lopez 8, Ravena 6, Ramos 6, Quiambao 4, Belangel 3, Abarrientos 2, Chiu 2, Navarro 2, Ildefonso 0.
Quarterscores: 23-13, 47-21, 73-43, 106-60.

Standings

W L
New Zealand 4 0
Philippines 1 2
India 0 3

Game Sunday

(Mall of Asia Arena)
7 p.m. – Philippines vs India