Gilas Pilipinas cruises past Singapore

Enzo Flojo

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Six players, led by Paul Lee and Gary David, score at least 7 points in the Philippines' second win at the FIBA Asia Cup
MID-AIR CLASH. Kevin Alas (L) attacks the defense of Singapore's K. Goh. Photo from FIBAAsia.net

MANILA, Philippines – Gilas Pilipinas didn’t exactly dominate, but they still cruised past Singapore, 74-57, in the 2014 FIBA Asia Cup in Wuhan, China.

Like in its previous game, Gilas had another strong outing, scoring the game’s first 9 points. Things got a little tight when the Singaporeans threatened at 13-10, but Gilas leaned on its bench to coast to an 11-point advantage entering the second quarter, where both teams traded baskets. Gilas then took a 43-31 lead into the break.

Gilas, who earned an ugly win against Chinese Taipei’s B team in its first game, kept the pressure on in the third quarter, but the Singaporeans continued to fight back behind timely hits from Delvin Goh and Lim Sheng Yu.

Coach Kwang Loong So’s wards, however, found themselves stuck at 37 for most of the quarter, while Gilas built a big lead, 56-37, after baskets from the frontline duo of Beau Belga and Japeth Aguilar. Coach Chot Reyes’s crew eventually entered the payoff period up, 56-39.

The Pinoys continued to pile the pressure on Singapore and erected another big advantage, 60-39, after June Mar Fajardo pumped in his last two points of the game. The PBA MVP struggled anew despite going up against smaller and more inexperienced foes.

Fajardo ended his second game in the tournament with 5 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 fouls while shooting 1/5 from the field and getting blocked by 19-year-old 6’7 center Delvin Goh, who plays for the Singapore Slingers.

A Garvo Lanete trey with about 5 minutes to go gave Gilas its largest lead, 67-45, before the Singaporeans went on a 10-0 tear to trim the gap to just a dozen markers with under 3 minutes left. The Filipinos restored order, though, and Paul Lee pegged the final score with a nifty three-point play inside the final minute.

Once again, Lee and David led Gilas, scoring 10 points each, while Beau Belga and Kevin Alas each tallied 8 markers. The World-Cup-bound Pinoys barely outrebounded Singapore, 45-44, but they did pound the inside with 42 points in the paint.  

Singapore was paced by 17 points from Hanbin Ng, while backcourt partner Wei Long Wong added 16.  

Gilas next plays the 2014 WABA champs and the Rajko Toroman coached Jordan to end group play. Toroman was the first head coach of the Gilas basketball program. He steered the team to a 4th place finish in the 2011 FIBA Asia Championships. 

Jordan earned its first win also against Singapore after they dropped their initial match against Taiwan.

Scores:

PH (74) – Lee 10, David 10, Alas 8, Belga 8, Aguilar 7, Lanete 7, De Ocampo, 6, Fajardo 5, Tenorio 5, Dillinger 4, Washington 4, Douthit 0

SIN (57) – H. Ng 17, Wong 16, Goh 9, Oh 8, Toh 5, Lim 2, Han 0, D. Soo 0, P. Soo 0, S. Ng 0, Low 0, J. Ng 0

Quarter scores: 25-14, 43-3, 56-39, 74-57

– Rappler.com


GILAS PILIPINAS AT FIBA ASIA CUP

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