MANILA – Gilas Pilipinas leaned on a second quarter avalanche to stave off lowly Myanmar, 136-67, in the 30th Southeast Asian Games last night at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Matthew Wright and Marcio Lassiter took turns burning the Burmese with outside hits as the Philippines closed Group A matches with a 3-0 win-loss slate.
Gilas Pilipinas surged to an early lead in the opening period behind Ilonggo Kiefer Ravena and Vic Manuel but Myanmar managed to keep in step with their perimeter hits.
The Burmese came to as close as four points in the second canto before Gilas unloaded a huge run behind outside hits by Wright and Lassiter and inside conversions from Troy Rosario for a 77-36 score.
The onslaught continued for the Gilas Pilipinas in the second half with Wright continuing with his outside hits and Rosario and Christian Standhardinger making their inside shots.
The national men’s basketball team notched the victory despite head coach Tim Cone resting key players June Mar Fajardo and Stanley Pringle in the match.
Gilas Pilipinas takes a break today before plunging back to action for the semifinals round on Monday evening against Group B No. 2 seed Indonesia.
Indonesia, which was mentored by former Gilas Pilipinas coach Rajko Toroman, was able to clinch a semifinals seat following its 100-71 triumph over Cambodia yesterday./PN
