MANILA, Philippines — Unleashing “the Kraken” on host Vietnam and their rabid supporters, Gilas Pilipinas disposed of one of its toughest challengers and moved two wins away from projected Southeast Asian Games title repeat.
June Mar Fajardo, wrecking havoc inside, punched in 25 points on a 10-of-12 shooting plus 11 rebounds to lead the 13-time defending champions to an emphatic 88-60 triumph over the Vietnamese for a leading 4-0 mark last night at the packed Thanh Tri Gymnasium.
Kiefer Ravena and Lebron Lopez shot 12 each off the bench to complement Fajardo in the smashing followup to Gilas’ victories over Thailand (76-73), Cambodia (100-32) and Singapore (88-37).
The Chot Reyes-coached squad seeks to get the job done by hurdling their last two opponents, Malaysia on Saturday and Indonesia on Sunday.
The Vietnamese fell to their first loss after a 2-0 start.
The unstoppable Fajardo spelled the big difference in the game that the home squad managed to keep close in the first 20 minutes.
With the six-time PBA MVP doing his thing, Gilas pulled away to a 50-35 lead in the third, which it used as a springboard to an unassailable 79-50 tear halfway through the fourth.
Gilas Pilipinas women’s team clamped down hard on host Vietnam to hammer out a wire-to-wire 118-87 beatdown and stay perfect in three games in the 31st Southeast Asian Games last night at the packed Thanh Tri Gymnasium.
The Pinay dribblers came out firing – and pressing with impunity – to establish control from the get-go and never really gave the home side and their throng of supporters a chance to pose serious threats.
Khate Castillo torched the Vietnamese with 25 points highlighted by a 7-of-11 three-point clip while Afril Bernardino and Gabi Bade punched in 14 apiece as the Philippines solidified its hold of No. 1 with two matches to go.
The Filipinas look to continue their rampage against Singapore on Saturday and Malaysia on Sunday to finish on top of the round-robin competition and secure back-to-back gold medals.
Vietnam dropped to 1-2, level with Thailand at fourth spot. Indonesia, meanwhile, caught up with Malaysia at No. 2 with 2-1 after a 70-52 drubbing in their faceoff yesterday.
Patrick Aquino’s charges, who opened the tournament with emphatic victories over Indonesia (93-77) and 2019 silver medalist Thailand (97-81), went full-throttle right away and kept the Vietnamese fans from really being a factor.
Castillo knocked down three consecutive treys sandwiching the long bombs from Janine Pontejos and Bade as Gilas stormed to a 36-10 upperhand.
The Filipinas’ suffocating defense led to eight steals and 21 points off turnovers en route to a comfortable 40-20 spread after the first 10 minutes of play.
With no let-up, the Gilas ladies maintained full command and stretched their lead to a high of 37 to the delight of a small but loud Filipino fans in the stadium.
The Philippine cagebelles are determined to continue their reign after nailing the gold medal breakthrough in an emotional drive in the 2019 Games on home ground.
They got an added motivation to deliver the gold after their 3x3 crew yielded the crown last week and failed to make it to the podium.