Perlas out of gold, silver race in SEAG

Game Friday

10:15 a.m. – Philippines vs Vietnam

KUALA LUMPUR – With hardly a recovery period from its game late Wednesday night, Perlas Pilipinas lacked the energy in a battle with the host team and dropped a close 56-60 loss that eased them out of the fight for the gold and the silver medals in the SEA Games women’s basketball competition.

The best the Filipinas could hope for now is to salvage the bronze although a win against Vietnam at 10:15 a.m. Friday is still not a guarantee of a third-place finish.

Malaysia is ahead of the pack at 4-0, followed by Indonesia (3-1) and Thailand (3-1), then the Philippines (3-2).

“We fell short and I apologize we failed the expectation of everyone,” said Perlas coach Patrick Aquino.

“I’m just happy we still got there in a battle (with Malaysia). I know the girls are very tired from the game against Thailand (Wednesday night) and the game today,” Aquino also said.

The rigors of fatigue took its toll on the Filipinas who took on Malaysia the morning after its game against Thailand late the previous night.

“And we’re not let to rest right away (after the Thailand game). The bus took a different route that took us longer to get back to the hotel. Pinababa kami sa malayo at pinaglakad,” said Aquino.

Still, Perlas managed to get into the fight, rallying from 16 points down to tie the count at 54 with 2:35 left to play.

But then Malaysia’s advantage as host came to play again.

Back-to-back questionable calls by the referees stalled Perlas’ drive, and the Malaysians recovered from Team Philippines’ stinging fightback, regaining the lead at 57-54 with time down to 50 seconds.

First, Allana Lim was called for a three-second violation when France Mae Cabinbin was attacking the basket.

And with Malaysia already ahead by one at 55-54, the Malaysians took crucial possession on a travelling violation called on Afril Bernardino to the shock of the Philippine crowd.

Down by three at 54-57, the Filipinas eventually yielded the match as they committed a 24-second shot-clock violation.

“Maybe, that’s what they call home-court advantage,” rued Aquino.

With no spring on their legs, the Filipinas trailed, 23-34, at the half and fell further behind at 27-43.

Then, they waged a chase, reminiscent of their late charge in their 69-67 thriller over Thailand. But they couldn’t complete the rally on the refs’ dubious calls.

The scores:

Malaysia 60 – Chong 12, Yap 10, Pang 9, Lo 8, Rajintran 8, Ting 8, Saw 4, Yaakob 1.

Philippines 56 – Lim 17, Almazan 11, Bernardino 7, Cabinbin 7, Abaca 7, Resultay 1, Dy 0, Tongco 0, Pontejos 0, Sambile 0, Animan 0.

Quarterscores: 13-12, 34-23, 47-38, 60-56