Carl Tamayo –MARLO CUETO/INQUIRER.net

Gilas Pilipinas hacked out a 93-54 victory at the expense of visiting Hong Kong in the Fiba Asia Cup qualifiers on Sunday night.

And while the final score made it look like the team played without letup in an effort to get key players some rest, that wasn’t the case, according to national coach Tim Cone.

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In fact, it was the other way around: Getting the key players some rest sparked a no-letup attack by the Philippines.

“Ironically, it was our youth that went out there and got the separation, which was just what the doctor ordered for us. We needed to get that separation, and we did,” Cone said.

And in front of a packed crowd at Mall of Asia Arena, the national team kept its record pristine after four outings and two windows, allowing the country to virtually book a spot in the continental championship.

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Gilas Pilipinas now needs only a win by New Zealand over Chinese Taipei—almost a given—to qualify for the Asian basketball showcase next year.

The Philippines was hoping to run down Hong Kong, a team it beat by 30 the first time they played, and get its younger players some exposure heading into the third window.

“The thing was we did not crush them [on Sunday], you know,” Cone said.

“We were hoping to do that in the first half. We kept them in the game and we were talking at halftime that they make a couple of threes, and maybe we fumble the ball and they’re right back in, so you just don’t know,” he added.

In a sense, Cone was right. Hong Kong kept fighting to within striking distance several times in the first half and early in the third quarter.

“They are a very, very good shooting team,” Cone said of the Chinese, who came into the contest looking to get out of a three-game dry spell in the contest. “They kind of dried up a little bit in the second half, but I think that was also a function of us getting out and going.”

Carl Tamayo, CJ Perez and Kevin Quiambao came off the bench to figure prominently in the second half along with starter Scottie Thompson as Gilas Pilipinas finally blew the game wide open in the third quarter.

The breakaway allowed Gilas Pilipinas to preserve the early efforts of Kai Sotto and June Mar Fajardo.

Fajardo finished with 14 points and eight rebounds, while Sotto had another huge game, adding 12 and 15. Tamayo wound up with 16 to lead all scorers, as Perez chipped in 10 more in the effort.

The win cut a clear path for the Philippines to the main tournament that will be played in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, in August.

“We want to continue our habits, you know,” he said. “We have such a short window to be together that we have to use every moment to get better.”

Cone got that chance in the second half, with the Filipinos erecting leads of as many as 39 that allowed Gilas to go deep into its bench.

“We don’t have a month or two or continuity over time to get better,” Cone added. “So the moments that we do have—and that’s what I like about this team the most—they try to get better all the time.” INQ