Home court advantage denied.
The revved-up Gilas Pilipinas asserted their winning mastery in 2017 Southeast Asian Games as they overpowered the host country Malaysia, 98-66, in Men’s basketball on Wednesday at MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Gilas Pilipinas was able to showcase offensive fluidity in the first part of the ball-game, however, the host country managed to keep distance with their threes and even snatching the lead with another triple in the 3:08 mark.
Malaysia continued to gain their homecourt advantage as they racked up stringed points with their 7-0 blast but a Gilas hustle play inside the paint courtesy of Mike Tolomia’s put back at the buzzer keep the deficit of the Philippines into a more manageable distance, 20-18, at the end of the first canto.
Despite the revved-up performance of Gilas Pilipinas in the second period, Malaysia refused to ride the momentum of the Filipinos as they sustained their red hot shooting in the downtown to stay on their nip and tuck battle.
The stringed points from Kiefer Ravena tough lay-up, Kevin Ferrer and Baser Amer triples started the engine of the well-oiled Gilas, lighting the fire-burning desire to dispatch the Malaysian squad in their own territory as they scored well in all cylinders while maintaining the striking distance.
Carl Bryan Cruz joined the Gilas shooters with his own version of three-ball but Malaysia responded quickly with a step-back tough three-point shot to narrow the gap into 10. Mike Tolomia, however, answered with his dribble-drive penetration to widen the gap into a double-digit lead, 47-35, at the end of first half.
The tension heated up as a scuffle between the Malaysian squad and Gilas Pilipinas in the 5:41 mark of the third quarter gave Baser Amer and Carl Bryan Cruz both disqualifying foul.
However, Gilas Pilipinas’ in-game composure still took over as they offensively outplayed the Malaysian squad inside the shaded area lead by Fil-German Christian Standhardinger’s overpowering presence while keeping up a ballooning 27-point lead in the third period, 73-46.
It was not yet over for a no mercy show for Gilas as Kobe Paras exposed his intense highlight plays through his emphatic dunks to display their basketball dominance.
The salvaging prowess of Gilas Pilipinas continued and there was no looking back for the dominant Filipinos as they asserted the winning mastery in SEA Games with a devastating, 98-66 ,win against the host country, | Tretch Melarpes – PTV
The scores:
Philippines (98) – Standhardinger 18, Paras 16, Ravena 12, Rosario 12, Amer 10, Vosotros 6, Ferrer 6, Tolomia 5, Jose 4, Pessumal 4, Cruz 3, Parks 2.
Malaysia (66) – Kuek 14, Ting 10, Teo 9, Wong 8, Chee 7, Yeo 7, Loh 5, Lim 4, Ma 2, Wong 0, Soo 0.
Quarterscores: 18-20, 47-35, 73-46, 98-66.
