Though the road to China had been rough, the result was all too sweet for Gilas! Behind another dominant outing by Andray Blatche and the will of the likes of Jayson Castro and June Mar Fajardo, Gilas Pilipinas went all out, blasting Kazakhstan, 93-75, early Monday (Manila time) at the Republican Velodrome Saryarka in Astana. With the win, Gilas ended their 2019 FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers campaign as the best fourth-placed team with a 7-5 record in Group F. The Philippines had a little assist coming from Ricardo Ratliffe and South Korea as the country's continental rivals took a huge 84-72 come-from-behind win against Lebanon in Zouk Mikael. But in this game, it was Blatche who towed the Philippines to China. The naturalized Filipino dropped 41 points on 12-of-20 shooting from the field and 12-of-14 shooting from the stripe to go along with 14 rebounds, four steals, three assists, and two blocks. The 6-foot-9 big man out of Syracuse, New York was unstoppable in the g...