Sinag Pilipinas smothers Myanmar

NAYPYITAW—Sinag Pilipinas rolled to a third straight victory, easily disposing of host Myanmar, 118-43, Thursday night in the Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball event at Zayar Thiri Indoor Stadium.

Ronald Pascual and Mac Belo came off the bench to finish with 18 and 17 points, respectively, as star-studded Sinag ripped the game wide open early, before cruising to its most convincing victory here so far.

Kevin Ferrer, inserted to the starting lineup for the first time in the tournament, tallied 13 points, while Jake Pascual and Garvo Lanete chipped in 10 apiece for Sinag, which is seeking a 16th basketball title in the SEAG.

It was a balanced attack for the PH five with all 12 players scoring at least five points in an emphatic follow up to its 107-57 rout of Cambodia Monday.

Sinag welcomed skipper Kevin Alas back into the lineup after the point guard skipped the first two games due to  flu. The former Letran ace  started the game and finished with five points.

Coach Jong Uichico played Marcus Douthit sparingly,  giving the naturalized center additional rest for the bigger games against Thailand, Indonesia and Malaysia.

Sinag faces fellow unbeaten  Thailand Friday.  The Thais also notched their third victory Thursday even   as they struggled to put away the Cambodians in an 80-67 win.

Pascual, the former San Sebastian star, drained four triples as Sinag finished with a 9-of-18 clip from beyond the arc.

The scores:

PHILIPPINES 118—R. Pascual 18, Belo 17, Ferrer 13, Lanete 10, Parks 10, J. Pascual 9, Sumang 9, Ganuelas 8, Ravena 6, Cruz 6, Alas 5, Douthit 5.

MYANMAR 43—Then 11, Hyan 9, Sett 7, Wang 5, Y. Aung 4, P. Aung 2, Pyae 2, Laja 2, Sei 1.

Quarters: 34-15, 62-27, 88-37, 118-43