It seemed to be “easy, easy” for the Philippines but it was a hard-earned win anyway.

Gilas Pilipinas entered the semifinals of the FIBA Asia Championship for the third straight time after walloping a confident Lebanon squad, 82-70, Thursday in Changsha in the quarterfinals of the 2016 Olympic qualifiers.

Jayson Castro William and Andray Blatche played their best games to date, with the 5’10” point guard topscoring for 25 points with five triples while the 6’11” center tallied a monstrous 24 points and 17 rebounds.

Lebanon, whose coach Veselin Matic predicted an easy game for them, was dominated by the Filipinos from the get go, as Castro fired 12 points in the first quarter for a 20-16 lead.

Gilas’ shocktroopers then carried on the offensive charge, with Castro’s sub Terrence Romeo scoring five early points in the quarter as Andray Blatche got his offensive groove going, scoring the Philippines’ last eight points in the first half and for a still precarious 37-32 lead.

It was a defensive third quarter for the Philippines as they played their usual 1-2-2 press as they surged for a double digit lead, 44-34, for the first time in the game after a Castro triple.

Lebanon came to its closest, 59-63, with five minutes left in the game but that was their last stand as Blatche, Castro, and veteran Marc Pingris returned to work, with Pingris scoring six points of his eight points in the final stretch of the game.

Lebanon, a three time runner-up in FIBA Asia, was led by Ali Haidar with 18 points and Bassel Bawji with 17 points and 13 boards.

The Philippines will meet Japan, a team they have beaten in the second round of the tournament, in the semifinals.

Japan earlier routed an exhausted Qatar team, 81-67, while powerhouses Iran and China will meet in the other semifinal match on Friday after routing South Korea and India, respectively.

Photo from FIBA