HANOI — Gilas women coach Pat Aquino lamented what could've been the perfect ending to their 31st Southeast Asian Games run here at the Thanh Tri Gymnasium on Sunday, after losing their final game to Malaysia, 93-96.
Though already assured of a gold medal, Aquino and his wards wanted to complete the sweep of the tournament.
But Malaysia, who are still gunning for a chance for the bronze medal, had other plans.
Leaning on their hot shooting and tough defense, Malaysia frustrated the Philippine ballers as they mounted a 10-0 run in the last two minutes of the game to steal the win from Gilas.
"I congratulate Malaysia for their game. They still had that hard playing game even though they were down. We had really a hard time making shots," Aquino said after the game.
"I still tip my hats off to the girls, they played their hearts out there," he added. "It's just not as sweet as we want it to be."
Owing to the format of the competition, Gilas did not need to play any knockout games as it was only a single round robin format where the team with the best record win.
After Malaysia lost the game to hosts Vietnam on Saturday, they were out of contention for the gold.
While Indonesia, who could match Gilas' 4-1 record in the tournament, can only settle for silver if they win their last game due to Gilas' opening day victory over them.
Having accomplished their goal of defending the gold medal, Aquino says it's still a great run for the team.
"We're still gold medalists and I'm so proud of them," he said.