MANILA, Philippines – The streak of blowout wins continued for Gilas Pilipinas as it remained unbeaten in the Southeast Asian Games in Vietnam with an 87-44 mauling of Malaysia on Saturday, May 21.

Thirdy Ravena impressed across the board with 17 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals for the Philippines, which hiked its record to a perfect 5-0, a win away from a 14th straight SEA Games gold.

Gilas Pilipinas will wrap up its campaign in Vietnam against fellow unbeaten team Indonesia in what is seen as the battle for the gold on Sunday.

Except for Thailand, no other team posed a threat to the Philippines after it thumped Cambodia, Singapore, Vietnam, and Malaysia by an average of 47.5 points going into its meeting with Indonesia.

Malaysia grabbed an 8-7 advantage in the opening quarter, but it stood no chance against a Philippines side that banked on a balanced scoring attack as the Filipinos savored a lead as big as 43 points.

All but one of the Philippines’ 12 players tallied at least 5 points, with 19-year-old Francis “LeBron” Lopez continuing to make a name for himself after churning out 9 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, and 2 blocks.

Roger Pogoy also finished with 9 points to go with 10 rebounds as Gilas Pilipinas left Malaysia in shambles at the end of the third quarter by scoring twice as many as its foes, 68-33.

The Philippines outscored Malaysia 29-11 in the third period off a 10-0 run at the start of the frame.

Isaac Go added 8 points and 4 rebounds, while Mo Tautuaa, Kiefer Ravena, Kib Montalbo, Matthew Wright, and Jaydee Tungcab chimed in 5 points apiece.

Tian Yuan Kuek put up 8 points and 5 rebounds to lead Malaysia, which fell to 2-4.

The Scores

Philippines 87 – T. Ravena 17, Lopez 9, Pogoy 9, Go 8, Montalbo 6, K. Ravena 6, Wright 6, Tungcab 6, Tautuaa 6, Rosario 5, Fajardo 5, Navarro 4.

Malaysia 44 – Lee 8, Wee 8, Kuek 8, Wong 6, Tem 5, Liew WY 4, Chang 3, Lew WQ 2, Ong 0, Kwaan 0.

Quarters 19-10, 39-22. 68-33, 87-44.

– Rappler.com