Photo from 5th SEABA Stankovic Cup website https://sport.mthai.com.
FEU stars Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia made sure there were no late meltdowns for Gilas Pilipinas in the most important game of the tournament.
The Philippines rode on its late-game heroics to demolish Thailand, 97-80, on its homecourt and rule the 5th SEABA Stankovic Cup Saturday.
Belo swished two straight threes and scored on a layup on the next sequence before Jiovani Jalalon punctuated the 10-0 charge with a drive that allowed the Filipinos to pull away with a double-digit advantage halfway through the final quarter.
Tolomia then joined the offensive onslaught for Gilas, scoring eight straight points, including a three from way out, that finally took the fight out of the Thais.
Troy Rosario had 17 points and seven rebounds while Jalalon finished with 16, but the efforts of Belo and Tolomia were the most pivotal.
Ahead by just five points entering the fourth, Gilas outscored the hosts, 30-18, enough to frustrate the fullhouse crowd at Stadium 29 in Bangkok.
The Thais nearly pulled off an upset when they faced the Filipinos in the preliminaries.
But Gilas was a different animal Saturday night, attacking the zone without letup and firing excellently from afar.
The Nationals encountered some scary moments late in the third after Thailand clawed its way back with Chitchai Ananti and Bandit Lakhan doing much of the lifting.
When Gilas regained momentum and controlled the pace early in the final period, the Thais simply crumbled and committed more costly mistakes that accelerated their collapse.
For pocketing the silver medal, the Thais will join Gilas in this year’s Fiba Asia Challenge as qualifiers for the Southeast Asia region.
In a tweet, Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas chairman Manny V. Pangilinan congratulated the cadets team.
“Gilas Seaba Team: well done. You played with character, pride and heart. Future of Phil basketball in good hands.”
The scores
GILAS 97—Rosario 17, Jalalon 16, Belo 14, Tolomia 12, Vosotros 11, Pogoy 10, Ferrer 8, Escoto 6, Jose 2, Pessumal 1, Holmqvist 0, Tibayan 0.
THAILAND 80—Ananti 19, Chanthachon 11, Lertmalaiporn 11, Samerjai 10, C. Klahan 9, P. Klahan 8, Jaisanuk 6, Lakhan 6, Towaroj 0, Ghogar 0, Apiromvilaichai 0.
Quarters: 22-all, 49-45, 67-62, 97-80