NAYPYITAW—Sinag Pilipinas, playing with more fire on both ends, demolished Thailand, 100-68, Friday at Zayar Thiri Indoor Stadium to move within two victories of clinching the gold medal that matters most to the country.
University of Santo Tomas star Kevin Ferrer shot 23 points, while former San Beda Red Lion Jake Pascual and Kiefer Ravena of Ateneo played their best games of the tournament by combining for 29 points as Sinag hurdled what was considered their toughest contender for the men’s basketball title.
Pascual also collected a team-high 10 rebounds.
Showing better cohesion, Sinag flexed its defensive muscle early, putting the clamps on Thailand’s shooters, while Ferrer and Garvo Lanete found their rhythm from beyond the arc to propel the Filipinos to a commanding 54-33 lead at the break.
With Ray Parks and Marcus Douthit also doing damage, Sinag coasted trouble free while pinning a first loss on the Thais, who fell to 3-1.
The game was marred by a scuffle in the last period with the Philippines ahead, 90-54.
Thailand forward Chanachon Klahan swung an elbow at Pascual while driving to the basket, before pushing away Jericho Cruz who was trying to step in and pacify the fiery Thai player. Chanachon was ejected from the game.
The Filipino cagers opened their campaign with an 88-75 dumping of a much-improved Singapore squad, before cruising to wins over Cambodia (107-57) and Myanmar (118-43).
The win against Thailand, though, has been the most impressive as far as coach Jong Uichico is concerned.
“This (performance) was what I wanted from them, especially on defense,” said Uichico. “I just hope we sustain this in the last two games.”
Sinag tangles with Indonesia, which has lost three of its four games in the tournament, at 10 a.m. today and a victory could virtually seal the country’s 16th gold in men’s basketball.
Malaysia will be Sinag’s last opponent on Sunday in the single-round tournament.