SEA Games: PH still on pace for double gold in basketball after contrasting wins

SINGAPORE—From the looks of it, Philippine basketball could end up with a golden double after all.

The Philippine women’s basketball team stayed in contention after slipping past Malaysia, 74-63, in the 28th Southeast Asian Games here.

Allana Lim had 20 points while veteran playmaker Merenciana Arayi and Cindy Resultay scored 15 points each, including the clutch free throws that doomed the Malaysians.

They simply needed to win by a margin of seven points to keep their golden hopes flickering after Malaysia shellshocked Thailand, 65-56, the other night.

“I told my girls not to think about the seven points, but take it a point at a time,’’ said head coach Patrick Aquino. “They played their best and I’m very proud of them.’’

Aquino said they should sweep their remaining assignments—against Indonesia Saturday and Singapore on Monday—in the six-team, single-round tournament and pray that Malaysia doesn’t conk out on its last two games.

A defeat by Malaysia either against Singapore on Saturday and Vietnam on June 15 would force a two-way tie between the Philippines and Thailand, which earlier defeated the Filipinos by five points.

In such case, the win-over-the-other rule applies, which favors the Thais.

Safely ahead by 12 points with less than two minutes left, the Filipinos saw their lead whittle down to eight after Magdelene Low buried consecutive threes.

Arayi then made a free throw, Lim blocked a momentum-shifted shot on the other end, and Resultay knocked in two freebies to finish off the Malaysians.

By the time the buzzer had sounded, the members of the entire team hugged at mid court, knowing that the gold is now within sight.

Sinag Pilipinas, the cadet team of Gilas, later rolled to its second straight win with an emphatic 100-48 demolition of Malaysia.

Almond Vosotros had 21 points while power forward Troy Rosario added 18 on top of eight steals and seven rebounds as the Filipinos tear up the Malaysians right in the opening period.

Coached by American Tab Baldwin, the men’s team is moving closer to its 17th cage title in these Games. CFC

Scores

Women’s

PHILIPPINES 74—Lim 20, Resultay 15, Arayi 15, Bernardino 10, Almazan 6, Sambile 5, Castro 2, Palmera 1, Gupilan 0, Bernardo 0, Jose 0.

MALAYSIA 63—Rajintiran 12, Yaakob 11, Ting 10, Low 9, Wong 8, Yap 5, Pang 4, Choo 3, Saw 1, Ng 0.

Quarters: 13-18, 30-all, 51-49, 74-63

Men’s

PHILIPPINES 100—Vosotros 21, Rosario 18, Douthit 12, Ravena 8, Torres 8, Khobuntin 7, Belo 7, Thompson 6, Amer 6, Rivero 5, Ferrer 2, Jalalon 0.

MALAYSIA 48—Yeo 10, Soo 9, Kwaan 5, Choong 4, Wong 4, Liaw 4, Koh 3, Choo 2, Ma 2.

Quarters: 20-9, 48-20, 75-35, 100-48

Originally posted: 01:16 PM June 11th, 2015