PHL wins 13th consecutive SEA games’ gold for men’s basketball
(Eagle News) — Gilas Pilipinas won the gold for men’s basketball at the 30th SEA Games with a dominant 34-point lead over Thailand, final score of 115-81, Tuesday night, Dec. 10.
This is the Philippines’ 13th straight gold for men’s basketball at the SEA Games, and the 18th gold for the country in the men’s hoops at the multi-sport biennial meet in the region, which it has dominated, since 1977.
The national team, consisting of members of the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) showed why the Philippines reigns supreme in basketball in the Southeast Asian region once again, as they kept the lead from start to finish of the finals game against Thailand held at the Mall of Asia (MOA) Arena.
At halftime, Gilas had a nine-point lead, 48-39, over Thailand.
In the third quarter, the team just exploded with back-to-back points as the scorecard stood at 88-54, or a 34-point lead over Thailand, at the end of the quarter.
There was no stopping the team afterwards as the Philippine players worked as one, and excelled in almost all the field goals.
June Mar Fajardo, Matthew Wright, Chris Ross, Stanley Pringle, Vic Manuel, Marcio Lassiter, Troy Rosario, Greg Slaughter, Christian Standhardinger, and Kiefer Ravena, greatly contributed to the game under the able guidance of coach Tim Cone.
June Mar set the pace with 17 points and 13 rebounds, as his 6 foot 10 frame overpowered those defending him.
Standhardinger had 16 markers and 11 boards.
LA Tenorio exploded with three pointers, and had 16 points and three assists.
This is the first time for players June Mar Fajardo, LA Tenorio, Japeth Aguilar, Matthew Wright, Chris Ross, Stanley Pringle, Vic Manuel, and Marcio Lassiter to grab a SEA Games gold, and for them, nothing is sweeter than this victory.
In a previous interview, Fajardo said he really wanted to win this first SEA games gold.
This is also the first SEA Games gold for Gilas Pilipinas coach Tim Cone.
After the play, the coach of the Thailand basketball team and its players congratulated the Gilas Pilipinas team members.
Their win follows the historic victory of Gilas women’s team over Thailand, at the women’s 5×5 basketball event, with a score of 91-71.
