BOBBY RAY Parks Jr. once again showcased the scoring prowess that made his dad a harcourt hit in the country, firing 10 points built around two clutch three-pointers as the Philippines crushed Iran, 28-19, yesterday in the 2010 Youth Olympic Games in Singapore.
With the victory, the Philippines is now assured of at least 10th place.
Parks powered the RP three-on-three squad to its third straight victory, as the Filipinos continued to make the most out of its stint in the consolation pool.
The young cagers, who dropped their first three matches, are also the only ones in the Philippine contingent to score victories in the inaugural Games.
Chris Michael Tolomia, whose brother Chester is a former pro, scattered nine points while Michael Pate and Jeron Teng, son of former PBA star Alvin, chipped in five and four points, respectively, for the RP team, which got a lot of support from Filipinos in the Scape Youth Space gallery.
The six-foot-five Parks also accounted for five of the Philippines’ nine steals.
The win set the country up for a showdown with international powerhouse Puerto Rico for 9th place today.
Puerto Rico, home to the Miami Heat’s reserve guard Carlos Arroyo, is composed of Montaivo Torres, Kristian Medina, Onix Collazo Romero and Abdiel Badillo Martinez.
“Hats off to the team and coach Mon Jose,” said RP chief de mission Mark Joseph. “With the win, we are now ranked 10th in the world. Tomorrow (today), we take Puerto Rico for ninth place, our best finish in the event of this magnitude. It’s already a proud accomplishment for us.”
The Filipinos trounced Central African Federation last Saturday in the consolation round. They overpowered South Africa in the group stage but that was after taking a beating from US Virgin Islands, Spain and Croatia. Marc Anthony Reyes
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