MANILA, Philippines — Gilas Pilipinas hurdled the penultimate obstacle on the road to Southeast Asian Games supremacy and quickly shifted focus to the closeout job against what’s largely perceived as the toughest challenger of all.
With Thirdy Ravena anchoring the early assault, the favored Philippine quintet walloped Malaysia, 87-44, to zero in on the cherished men’s basketball crown yesterday at the Thanh Tri Stadium in Vietnam.
Ravena fired 17 to go with seven rebounds, five assists and two steals as the Filipinos notched their fifth consecutive triumph and could wrap it all up with No. 6 today against Indonesia.
The Indonesians (4-0 at presstime) have been tipped as the biggest threat to Gilas’ quest for a 14th consecutive SEAG diadem, especially with former NBA player Marques Bolden in the fold.
“We really treated this game (Malaysia) as preparation for tomorrow’s (today’s) match against Indonesia,” said Philippine coach Chot Reyes, whose troops go for the clincher at 4 p.m. (Philippine time).
It wasn’t a razor-sharp performance, though, as Gilas only got into the groove by the second quarter. Ahead by nine after the first 10 minutes, the Pinoy dribblers shifted to high gear and rattled nine unanswered points to start their juggernaut.
“Our focus was just to make sure to keep our level high. Unfortunately we didn’t start off that way. It wasn’t the good start that we wanted,” said Reyes.
RR Pogoy fell one point short of a double-double with his nine and 10 boards while Lebron Lopez chipped in nine plus five rebounds off the bench.
The Gilas women’s team put itself in the same situation, mauling Singapore, 88-61, to move on the cusp of the No. 1 position at the end of the single round-robin competition and secure back-to-back titles.
Clare Castro took the scoring cudgels for Gilas women with 15 as the team made it four-of-four at the expense of the Singaporeans. The Filipinas shoot for top honors against Malaysia (2-1 at presstime) today at 10 a.m. (Philippine time).