Philippines settles for silver in AUG women’s basketball

Screengrab from Asean University Games livestream

Comeback wasn’t for real for the Philippines.

The lady ballers from National University fell short to Thailand, 64-57, in the gold medal match of the Asean University Games women’s basketball tournament Sunday at Nanyang Technological University Sports Hall in Singapore.

Fighting back from a 34-21 deficit at halftime, the girls of coach Patrick Henry Aquino slowly chipped away the Thais’ advantage and got to as close as four, 59-55 courtesy of a Trixie Antiquera split from the line with 2:34 left.

However, Ria Nabalan missed a three which led to Thailand racking up five straight points to pull away for good.

The Filipinas could not avenge their 78-69 loss to Thailand last Thursday. Both of their defeats came at the hands of the eventual champions. JE/rga