Gilas Pilipinas 3×3’s Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser.
MANILA, Philipppines–Dealing damage from inside and out and then clamping down on defense when the enemy threatened to comeback, the Philippines turned in a statement victory over Cambodia, 19-7, to get its title-retention bid in the Southeast Asian Games 3×3 men’s basketball event off to a rousing start.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, the projected first overall pick of this year’s PBA Rookie Draft, led the way for the Filipinos, scoring eight points for Gilas Pilipinas in its debut at Thanh Tri Gymnasium on Friday afternoon.
Marvin Hayes was just as assertive in the paint, adding six more for the Nationals, who will return to action against Thailand later in the day.
The Cambodians threatened around with three minutes left in the contest, but timely blocks by the 6-foot-7 Rosser snuffed their chances at mounting a fightback and sent them to their second loss in the race.
Jorey Napoles had four points while Reymar Caduyac tossed in another point for the men’s team who are looking to lead by example.
The women’s team, composed of Afril Bernardino, Janine Pontejos, Clare Castro and Angel Surada also plays Cambodia for the first match in their bid to keep the title.
Gilas’ 5-on-5 campaign unfurls this Monday.