They later stretched the lead to 27 points at halftime 44-17 score. RP coach Yeng Guiao told his players not to put their game on a show but to play basic basketball game for them to win against powerhouse team China.

In the 2nd half, Powerade Team Pilipinas played their game seriously which they scored a thunderous 42 points in the 3rd quarter alone. Give credit to Arwind Santos as he hit several three point shots as the game continues.

Meanwhile, Jared Dillinger led RP with 21 points, Arwind Santos had 16 and Asi Taulava, Aguilar and Cyrus Baguio each had 15 in the win which coach Yeng Guiao described as a “good way to prepare against Japan and Korea.”

Coach Yeng Guiao was very impressed on his player’s performance. “The real test for us is Japan and Korea. We’re looking forward to playing against them in the next two days,” said Guiao.

The Nationals schedule to clash with the Japanese tomorrow (Friday) at 9 p.m PST.

The scores:

Team Pilipinas 115 – Dillinger 21, Santos 16, Taulava 15, Aguilar 15, Baguio 15, Thoss 11, Norwood 8, Helterbrand 5, Miller 5, Raymundo 4, Pennisi 0.

Sri Lanka 31 – Rajapakshe 8, Fernando 8, Danawansa 7, Senanayake 4, De Silva 2, Perera 2.

Quarterscores: 28-9; 44-17; 86-26; 115-31.

The Nationals started strong in the few minutes of first quarter and only trailed by two points 17-15 at the end of this quarter. It has been a very close game until Jordanian’s 6-4 point guard Rasheim Wright started to play a tremendous game in both offense and defense by cutting the Nationals’ defense in shreds, setting screens that set up their outside shots clearly breaking Team Pilipinas’ man-to-man defense.

He was the same player who terrorized Chot Reyes’ RP team during the 24th FIBA Asia Olympic qualifier in Tokushima, Japan two years ago. It ended the Philippines’ bid of qualifying in the 2008 Beijing Olympics following an 84-76 victory in the preliminary round of the 24th FIBA Asia Men’s Championship.

Powerade Team Pilipinas players have difficulty to set up their momentum in this game. They trailed by as many as 79-45 halfway into the fourth quarter.

“We have to learn how to beat this team if we hope to make the Turkey tournament (World Championship),” said RP team coach Yeng Guiao, who hinted of a major adjustment when the team returns.

In other opening day games, Lebanon, with the veteran Fadih El-Khatib outscored Taiwan-B, 93-61, while South Korea, which is bracketed with the Philippines, Japan and Sri Lanka in Group A in the FIBA Asia tournament, edged Kazakhstan, 75-73, despite getting out rebounded by 42-32.