Jared Bahay had a flawless performance from a faultless 13-of-13 on the free-throw line and drained two treys, to go along with his nine rebounds, but the national youth team was still unable to match with the Koreans, who had a field goal percentage of 52.78.

The explosion of 25 points that the young Cebuano basketball standout had was for naught as the Gilas Pilipinas Youth fell short to overcome Korea.

South Korea was within reach after three quarters, but after a 13-4 spurt in the opening four minutes of the fourth quarter, the Gilas Youth couldn’t keep up and couldn’t stop South Korea from slipping away after an aggressive surge in the final quarter.

It was 61-57 with four minutes remaining when Mingyo Ku ignited a Korean comeback that stretched the lead to 14 points, 86-72.

Ku had 21 points, seven assists, and four rebounds in Korea’s victory. A 7-of-7 shooting performance from the field by Yujin Lee unimpaired performance culminated to 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

For the Gilas Youth team, Zain Mahmood produced 12 points and six rebounds, and Caelum Harris scored 10 points on 4-of-10 shooting to go along with his team-high six rebounds.

Even though they gained from Korea’s 20 fouls, which resulted in a 20-of-28 clip from the free-throw line for the Filipinos, it was a difficult evening for the lads of coach Josh Reyes, who shot themselves in the foot with 18 turnovers.

The Philippines had a chance to clinch a place in the FIBA U17 World Cup berth by finishing in the top four, but the young Nationals slipped a win shortly after ripping a double-digit lead against Australia and losing 109-83 in the quarterfinals last Friday.

The Scores:

Korea 88 – Ku 21, Lee YJ 17, Shin 15, Lee GW 11, Kim SW 6, Seok 5, Edi 4, Ko 3, Shim 2, Bang 0, Kim SH 0.

Philippines 77 – Bahay 25, Mahmood 12, Harris 10, Competente 9, Porter 6, Bayla 4, Konov 4, Nieto 4, Gemao 3, Jones 0, Reyes 0.

Quarters: 20-16, 39-32, 61-57, 88-77.