Sinag Pilipinas whips Vietnam, faces Thailand next

KELAPA Gading, Jakarta—The Philippines limited Vietnam to four points in the first quarter on the way to a 107-53 victory Tuesday for its second straight lopsided basketball win in the 26th Southeast Asian Games.

Greg Slaughter, the 7-foot Ateneo center, fired 20 points and Bobby Ray Parks scattered 19 as the Filipinos had another virtual workout at the BritAma Arena.

The Nationals slug it out with the squad considered as their only threat, Thailand, at 11 a.m. (12 noon in Manila) Wednesday.

The Thais also had a 2-0 card after ripping Cambodia, the Philippines’ first foe, 85-62, earlier. Thailand’s first victory came at the expense of Vietnam, 85-54, Monday afternoon.

“I watched both games,” Philippine coach Norman Black said. “The Thais are bigger than Vietnam and Cambodia and they have three good players. I don’t know their names but I know their (jersey) numbers.

The women’s team also tries to stay undefeated Wednesday against Myanmar at 1 p.m.

The Filipinas pulled off a surprise right in their first outing by holding off defending champion Malaysia, 64-56, despite the absence of dengue-stricken center Cassy Tioseco.

“We have no idea how to play them (Burmese),” PH coach Haydee Ong said. “What we know is that this will be the first time that they will play in the SEA Games.”

The scores:
PHILIPPINES 107—Slaughter 20, Parks 19, Ellis 11, Lanete 11, Marcelo 9, Hodge 8, Ravena 8, Pascual 8, Tiu 4, Salva 4, Monfort 3, Garcia 2.
VIETNAM 53—Nguyen 11, Le 10, Trieu 8, Doan 7, Hoang 6, Ngo 2, Vu 2, Nguyen ST 0, Le 0, Du 0.
Quarters: 32-4, 59-23, 84-41, 107-53