PH whips Indonesia for 2nd triumph

Marnel Baracael fired 15 points and Garvo Lanete added 14 as the Philippines roughed up Indonesia, 80-52, last night in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

The Filipinos simply imposed their might inside in roaring to their second straight victory, scoring 38 points in the paint and sinking 16 of 22 free throws to  demolish the Indonesians.

Marcus Douthit was an immovable force again in the shaded lane, chipping in 13 markers highlighted by a couple of rim-rattling dunks.

Though sinking only four of 12 three-pointers against Indonesia’s seven, they had a 35-28 edge on rebounds, a 9-3 advantage on steals and had 21 assists, including seven from former Ateneo hotshot Emman Monfort.

The Filipinos, who overpowered Singapore in the opener on Wednesday, 96-58, are tipped to flaunt the same prowess against Malaysia today.

Former Smart Gilas skipper Chris Tiu added 13 points while Dave Marcelo contributed 11.

Lanete’s three-pointer restored the lead back to 20 points early in the third after a brief scoring onslaught by the Indonesians and the Filipinos were never threatened from there.

Marcelo went on to pad the lead to 69-42  halfway through the period, giving coach Jong Uichico  the luxury of freely shuffling his men.

Smart Gilas raced to an early  21-8 lead through a series of penetrations and jumpers by Baracael and Tiu. Douthit’s dunk jacked it up to 34-13 before Indonesia’s Chrismas Bonanza Siregar drilled a three from the corner to cut the deficit down to 17. Smart Gilas won by an average margin of 40 points last year in this same tournament.

The scores:

PHILIPPINES 80—Baracael 15, Lanete 14, Douthit 13, Tiu 13, Marcelo 11, Thoss 8, Co 2, Monfort 2, Ramos 2, Tenorio 0, Hermida 0.

INDONESIA 52—Setepu 13, Ahmad 13, Siregar 8, Wisnu 7, Susanto 4, Liogo 3, Handoyo 2, Michel 2, Gunawan 0.

Quarters: 21-8, 41-25, 59-37, 80-52