Photo from SEA Games 2015 Twitter.
The Philippines men’s basketball team opened its gold-medal bid with an 81-52 thumping of Indonesia in the 28th Southeast Asian Games Wednesday at OCBC Arena Hall in Singapore.
The Gilas Cadets seemed to have taken the Indonesians lightly in the first half and had to dig a bit deeper in the second half to get the result they wanted.
The young Nationals flexed their muscles in the third quarter where they outscored the Indonesians, 25-10, to put the game beyond reach, 60-34.
The lead ballooned to 30, 64-34, after University of Santo Tomas forward Kevin Ferrer scored four unanswered points early in the fourth quarter.
The Philippines limited Indonesia to just 27 points in the last two quarters after allowing 20 points in the second period.
The Philippines go for a 2-0 start against Malaysia on Thursday at 4 p.m.
Ateneo standout Kiefer Ravena led all scorers with 16 points while Troy Rosario posted 15 points and 11 rebounds.
No player from Indonesia finished in double-digit scoring. CFC