MANILA, Philippines – The Gilas Pilipinas men’s basketball team played with remarkable composure and determination to finally solve the Cambodian puzzle, essaying an 80-69 victory on Tuesday to return to the Southeast Asian Games basketball throne.
Justin Brownlee once again proved he’s the top dog among naturalized players in Southeast Asia, scoring a game-high 23 points to power Gilas to the gold medal in the 32nd SEA Games at the Morodok Techo Stadium Elephant Hall 2 in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The Cambodians tried to get back in the game by the fourth period, but their repeated comeback tries were thwarted by the Filipinos, who successfully redeemed themselves from a silver-medal finish in the 31st edition of the biennial meet in Vietnam two years ago.
Chris Newsome and Marcio Lassiter supported Brownlee on offense with 16 and 10 points, respectively.
Peterson Jerome led four naturalized Cambodians in double-figures with 18 points, but that wasn’t good enough for the host nation to pocket the gold.
Gilas thus got back at Cambodia following their stunning 79-68 setback to the latter in the elims.