The 10-man Gilas Pilipinas handled business against India in front of home supporters to successfully finish the first round of the FIBA World Cup Asian Qualifiers.

The undermanned but tenacious Filipinos destroyed the Indians in a 79-63 victory yesterday night at the MOA Arena, looking to atone for a 46-point thrashing they suffered in New Zealand.

In front of a cheering audience that was primarily dressed in blue, Dwight Ramos and Kiefer Ravena scored 21 and 12 points, respectively, to help the youthful team pull off the comeback victory.

As fellow frontline player Carl Tamayo battled through an ankle injury he acquired in the 106-60 loss against the Tall Blacks, young big man Geo Chiu contributed 11 rebounds in addition to five points, giving head coach Nenad Vucinic his first victory.

Gilas was initially down to 11 players, but had to play against India with just 10 due to Dave Ildefonso’s knee injury.

Overall, the Philippines finished Group A in second place with six points on an even 2-2 record, and they advanced to the second round of the qualifiers with the group’s unbeaten group champion, New Zealand (eight points on 4-0), and No. 3 India (four points on 0-4).

For the Round 2 play scheduled for later this year, the Tall Blacks, Gilas, and India were grouped with the top 3 teams from Group C in Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan. They compete against the teams from the opposite group twice in the following round, carrying over their first-round results.

Late in the opening round, the home team went on a 9-1 scoring run, led by Kevin Quiambao and Ramos, for a 21-10 run.

The Filipinos, who had momentum on their side, outscored the visitors by 10 points in the second period to increase their advantage to 45-24, and they then went into cruise control.