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[av_heading heading=’Aguilar sparks Gilas vs Thais for 4th straight SEABA victory’ tag=’h3′ style=’blockquote modern-quote’ size=” subheading_active=’subheading_below’ subheading_size=’15’ padding=’10’ color=” custom_font=”]
By ADRIAN STEWART CO
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Thursday, May 18, 2017
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MANILA – Japeth Aguilar waxed hot in the second frame as the Gilas Pilipinas bucked a slow start to score a 108-53 win over Thailand in the 2017 SEABA Cup on Tuesday night at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.
With the national men’s basketball team holding on to a slim 18-14 lead, Aguilar connived with Calvin Abueva and Terrence Romeo for a 25-6 breakaway to build a 51-26 edge at halftime.
Aguilar finished the match with 23 points, on a perfect 10-of-10 field goal shooting, five rebounds and two blocks for the Gilas, which moved up to first place in the standings with a 4-0 win-loss mark.
“In our previous games, Japeth was content with playing a support role, setting screens, and rebounding. But in this game, with the others not hitting their shots, Japeth came through,” said Gilas head coach Vincent “Chot” Reyes.
Abueva, meanwhile, added 15 markers, while Romeo and naturalized center Andray Blatche had 11 points apiece for the Gilas, which led by as much as 59 points at 108-49 on a triple by Allein Maliksi.
Reyes also lauded his players for putting up a good defense against Thai Chitchai Ananti, the league’s leading scorer, and Wutipong Dasom, who came from a 40-point game against Myanmar, who were held to just 35 points as their foes blazed to 102.
“We came into the ball game with the defensive focus of stopping (Ananti) because we felt that he is Thai’s leading scorer. We challenge our defenders (led by Roger Pogoy) to lock him down,” Reyes said.
If Gilas notches a fifth straight victory against Vietnam on Wednesday, the team will be going for the crown on the final day of the eliminations against Indonesia, which parades naturalized player Jamarr Johnson and American-Indonesian Arki Wisnu.
Only the champion in this year’s SEABA tournament will earn a spot in the FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon on Aug. 10 to 20./PN
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