Showcasing dominance inside the paint, the overpowering Perlas Pilipinas muscled their way to grab the country’s first staggering 88-54 victory against the Singapore team in 29th Southeast Asian Games’ Women’s Basketball tournament at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.
Even though sloppy plays were exposed by the Filipinas in both offensive and defensive end at the start of the first period, with just a 7-point lead (23-16), it seemed like that was only part of their adjustments as they shocked the Singaporeans with impressive plays and scoring prowess in the next quarters of the ball game.
The Filipinas pulled away in the second period courtesy of their hassle defensive plays, combined with number of steals through their back court pressure to garner a double digit spread of 39-25.
With a ballooning 28-point lead, 64-36, in the third quarter, Perlas Pilipinas continued to blast the Singaporeans by not giving them any chance to showcase major runs.
There was no looking back for the Filipinas as they sealed an 88-54 blowout win against their counterparts, tallying their first win in the tournament.
Amidst the choking defensive strategy of Perlas, (with 15 total steals), balanced scoring were also one of the key as they registered 53-point bench scoring compared to Singapore’s 17.
Bernardino spearheaded the offensive output of Philippine squad as she scored 16 huge points while Pontejos and Sambile contributed 13 and 10 markers, respectively.
The dominance inside the paint were also bared, with Perlas Pilipinas muscled 46 points compared to just 22 points of the Singapore team. | Tretch Melarpes – PTV
