Got a tip? Send it to us at manila@coconuts.co.
The Philippines held off a fourth quarter charge by Indonesia to triumph in the gold medal game of the 28th Southeast Asian Games’ basketball competition, 72-64, Monday evening at the OCBC Arena.
The Gilas Cadets held a comfortable 58-47 lead at the end of the third quarter but gave up a 9-1 run to Indonesia that made it a three-point game, 59-56, with just under five minutes left in the game.
Ateneo’s Kiefer Ravena stopped the bleeding for the Philippines, stealing the ball from Indonesia’s Mario Wuysang and going all the way for a slam dunk that re-energized the pro-Philippines crowd at the venue and put the Gilas Cadets on top 61-56.
Ravena’s dunk halted Indonesia’s momentum, and the Philippines were able to regain control of the game. National University standout Troy Rosario made it 63-56 with 3:45 to go, and the Indonesians came up empty in their next few possessions.
Far Eastern U standout Mac Belo, who played a splendid game, gave the Philippines a 65-58 lead with 49 seconds to go after canning two free throws, and on the other end, Indonesia’s Arki Wisnu committed an offensive foul.
With less than 30 seconds to go, the Gilas Cadets on the bench started to celebrate as Ravena and Rosario drained their free throws to ice the victory for the Philippines.
It was the Philippines’ 11th consecutive gold medal in SEA Games’ men’s basketball event, and their 29th gold of the Singapore SEA Games.
The Gilas Cadets were coming off a hard-fought 80-75 victory over Thailand in the semi-finals, and Indonesia proved to be a game opponent as well as Winsu and Sany Kurniawan allowed them to keep in step with the Nationals early.
The Philippines started pulling away late in the first quarter thanks in part to Belo, who teamed up with naturalized player Marcus Douthit for a pretty give-and-go play that gave the Gilas Cadets a 20-15 lead.
San Beda point guard Baser Amer gave the Philippines its first double-digit advantage when he poked the ball away from an Indonesia guard and went all the way for a lay-up and a 25-15 advantage.
The Gilas Cadets went on to lead by as much as 18 points in the second quarter after Belo coolly drained a triple that made it 39-21 with 1:45 left in the second quarter.
Indonesia made a brief rally, ending the half with a 5-0 burst to enter the break down by 13 points, 26-39.
Belo finished the game with 22 points, making five of his seven field goals and 11 of his 13 free throw attempts. Ravena added 12, and Rosario had 11 points and five rebounds.
Kurniawan finished with 16 points for Indonesia, while Wisnu added 10 points. Christian Sitepu added 11 markers.
Indonesia settled for the silver medal in basketball, their 58th of the SEA Games.Meanwhile, the Philippines finish their SEA Games campaign with a haul of 29 golds, 36 silvers, and 66 bronzes – good enough for sixth place in the medal table.
Photo: SingSoc via 28th SEA Games official Twitter page
This article has been re-published with permission from ABS-CBNnews.com.
KICK BACK, RELAX, WATCH COCONUTS TV
