E-Gilas Pilipinas proved adept at winning close games just as much as it can breeze through blowout victories with a sweep of Mongolia to reach the Southeast Asia leg finals of the FIBA Esports Open III on Saturday, April 17.

The Philippines made easy work of Mongolia in Game 1 with a 95-35 romp before it had its mettle tested in a narrow 64-58 win in Game 2 to clinch their best-of-three semifinals series.

Mongolia sought to force a rubber match by knotting the score at 56-56 with less than two minutes left in Game 2, but E-Gilas banked on crucial buckets from Aljon “Shintarou” Cruzin and Rial “Rial” Polog to escape.

Shintarou capped off his 36-point outburst with the go-ahead layup that gave the Philippines a 58-56 lead, while Rial knocked down back-to-back three-pointers in the final 1:40 minutes that kept Mongolia at bay.

Rial put up 16 points on a 4-of-4 clip from long distance in Game 2, while Custer “Custer” Galas added 10 points.

“We’ve been watching many [game] films and we see our weaknesses and strengths. We adjusted our game plan and strategies on how to be better for this event,” Rial said.

Shintarou also showed the way in Game 1 with 36 points on an impressive 10-of-12 shooting from three-point land to go with 12 assists as E-Gilas obliterated Mongolia by 60 points.

The Philippines erected a 36-5 run linking the first two quarters and never looked back, finishing the lopsided win with scintillating shooting percentages of 90% from the field and 83% from beyond the arc.

Rial backstopped Shintarou in Game 1 with 24 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals, Philippe “IzzoIV” Herrero IV had 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 3 steals, while Ian “Ian” Santiago chimed in 8 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 assists.

E-Gilas will face the winner between Indonesia and Vietnam in a best-of-three finals on Sunday, April 18. – Rappler.com