PH loses gold medal chance in SEAG women’s basketball

SINGAPORE—The Philippine women’s basketball team played its worst in the most critical point of the tournament.

A monumental collapse in the final 49.6 seconds saw the golden hopes of the Filipina cagers evaporate after a free fall against Indonesia, 61-56, Friday in the 28th Southeast Asian Games here.

After Afril Bernardino knocked down a jumper for a 56-55 edge, the Philippines got entangled in a maze of turnovers that left the team dumbfounded in the end.

The defeat has pushed them out of the gold medal and could even trip from the podium should Malaysia and Indonesia sweep their remaining assignments.

“They played well, we played bad. They came out much ready than us,’’ said women’s head coach Patrick Aquino after absorbing their second defeat in four games.

They’ll close out their campaign against Singapore on Monday.

“It will be hard to sleep tonight and the next few nights,’’ said Aquino, the gold completely slipping from their grasp.

Malaysia (2-1) has the upper hand against Vietnam and Singapore in its next two games and regardless of the outcome between Indonesia (3-1) and defending champion Thailand (2-1), the Philippines (2-2) will place behind these teams via the win-over-the-other rule in case of a tie.

“Maybe it’s fatigue factor, the four-day stretch of daily games has taken its toll,’’ said Aquino.

With the Filipinos trailing by one, Camille Sambile traveled with 31.4 seconds remaining that led to the free throws of Marlina Herawan on the other end that bumped the Indonesians to three up.

Raiza Palmera, the top scorer for the Philippines with 12 points, then lost the leather at the end line on the next sequence, a mistake that Herawan again exploited with another pair of free throws, 20.7 ticks left.

Desperate attempts from the three-point zone by Palmera and Sambile didn’t even hit the rim as the Indonesians celebrated at mid court. Aquino stared blankly at the wooden floor for over a minute before picking himself up.

“We’ve learned our lessons. We need to study more and next time we compete, we’ll be much more ready,’’ said Aquino.

Just the other day, they were jubilant with the win over the Malaysians as the gold came within sight despite a stinging defeat at the hands of the Thais.

Scores

INDONESIA 61—Christaline 19, Sophia 18, Herawan 14, Putri 5, Anggraini 2, Rohtriastari 2, Ibo 1, Retong 0.

PHILIPPINES 56—Palmera 12, Bernardino 11, Almazan 7, Lim 7, Gupilan 7, Arayi 6, Sambile 4, Resultay 2, Jose 0, Castro 0, Bernardo 0.

Quarters: 21-9, 29-27, 38-46, 61-56