Photo from 5th SEABA Stankovic Cup website https://sport.mthai.com .
JIOVANI Jalalon came through in the clutch as the Philippines weathered Singapore’s fightback for an 81-59 victory last night in the 5th Seaba Stankovic Cup 2016 at Stadium 29 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Quick and powerful like a speeding locomotive, Jalalon torched the Singaporeans with 17 points, including six straight on a variety of incursions midway in the final period that sealed the unbeaten Gilas cadet squad’s second consecutive win.
Jalalon’s scoring binge in the crucial stretch pushed the Nationals back to a 15-point lead after Singapore pulled within threatening distance, 50-59, early in the fourth.
Gilas then finished the job behind Almond Vosotros, Mike Tolomia and Troy Rosario, the hero in the cruising victory against Malaysia.
“We talked about defense coming into this game. We tried to limit them to 60 (points) and we did,” said Racela. “But I think we can do better.”
Gilas will next face Indonesia today in a match the Filipinos are expected to dominate. Indonesia lost by an average of around 30 points in two games against Thailand and Singapore.
Still, Gilas has to take care of business against the Indonesians before its final match in the elimination round opposite Thailand on Thursday.
The Philippines asserted its length in the paint with Rosario and Raymar Jose seizing nine rebounds each as Gilas outrebounded Singapore, 46-26.
Gilas controlled the paint in the third and built an 18-point edge on the efforts of Tolomia, Jalalon and Roger Pogoy.
That huge lead easily dwindled at the start of the fourth as John Ng, Delvin Goh and Lyon Chia reduced the deficit to a single digit. June Navarro
The scores:
GILAS PILIPINAS 81—Jalalon 17, Vosotros 14, Tolomia 12, Jose 8, Pogoy 6, Escoto 5, Belo 5, Rosario 4, Holmqvist 4, Pessumal 3, Ferrer 3, Tibayan 0.
SINGAPORE 59—Go 17, Ng 12, Lim 9, Kwek 9, Toh 4, Tan 2, Chia 2, Lim 2, Tay 2, Tang 0, H. Lim 0.
Quarters: 27-14, 41-29, 59-41, 81-59