Gilas Pilipinas found the right formula early as they controlled the entire game to sweep the Group B of the Fiba Asia tournament. Gilas Pilipinas defeated Qatar with the score of 80 -74 and the team will qualify right away to the quarter finals to which they will face the winner of the Korea vs Japan game which will be held next. 

The already undermanned Gilas played without another big man in Christian Standhardinger as he was suffering a neck injury. Gilas Pilipinas, however, did not feel the big guy's absence as Carl Bryan Cruz, one of the unheralded heroes of the game stepped up and delivered the much-needed points that helped Gilas keep the distance throughout the game. 

Qatar tried to mount a comeback in the fourth quarter but the lead was already too big and they could not do anything to shut down the resilient offense of the Gilas Pilipinas. 

Gilas spread the floor well and shared the ball tallying a total of 23 assists against 16 of Iraq. Surprisingly, Gilas also controlled the board against a much bigger Qatar with 42 rebounds against 34. The Philippine team also registered 4 blocks in the game.