The Philippines has made it to the semifinals of the past two continental-level tournaments: 2011 (losing to Korea by two) and 2012 (getting ambushed by Qatar). With this year's edition, with a mammoth crowd behind them, the Southeast Asian squad has encountered success. Sitting on top of Group E after winning against Qatar, Japan and Hong Kong, they were favoured to run its way against the Kazakhs.

On the other hand, the Kazakhs were not even in the FIBA Asia tournament in 2011, and the last time the two teams met, they were pummeled by the Philippines in the 2009 Jones Cup. Now bannered by NBA prospect Anton Ponomarev, the Kazakhs are now back in the quarterfinals after topping their first-round group.

In the penultimate quarterfinal game for Friday, the Filipino quintet started strong behind shooting guard Gary David's 11 points, the bulk of which came from 3-of-3 shooting from behind the line that sparked a 12-0 run that got the crowd up on their feet.

While the Kazakhs were able to trim down the lead to single digits in the second period behind naturalized point guard Jerry Jonson's heady play, the home team managed to close out the first half up 51-40, thanks to a drive-and-dish offense that resulted in a Marcus Douthit foul and a three-pointer from Gabe Norwood, arguably the Philippines' most consistent player in the tournament. The Filipinos also used a twin-tower defensive combo with both the 6'11" Douthit and 6'10" Japeth Aguilar, who was drafted by the NBA D-League's Santa Cruz Warriors in 2011.

The third quarter was a low-scoring affair, with the Philippines and Kazakhstan scoring only 3 and 2 points, respectively, by the 6-minute mark; Kazakhstan even managed to cut down the lead to 9 off a Dmitrity Klimov three-pointer. But after a few defensive stops and timely fastbreak points, the Filipinos were able to jack up the lead even more, enjoying a massive 67-49 advantage at the end of the period.

The home team kept on pouring on in the final quarter, thanks to a couple of unsportsmanlike fouls by Klimov. The Kazakh forward was pulled out of the court in frustration after swinging an elbow at PH forward Ranidel de Ocampo, the Philippines leading by 28, 79-51. It seemed like the goal had been shut on the Kazakhs' end as they missed a couple of wide-open layups. The masterful Philippine run was punctuated by a Japeth Aguilar dunk off a fake by Ponomarev. By the time third-string center June Mar Fajardo was fielded in, the Filipinos were already assured of a slot in the FIBA Asia semifinals for the second straight time as they won 88-58.

Gary David exploded with a long-overdue 22 points, while Klimov finished with 14. Kazakhstan's Jerri Jonson was held to 8 points on 2-of-11 shooting. The Philippines will face the winner of the Qatar-South Korea matchup on Saturday.