SMART Gilas Pilipinas easily upheld its winning tradition in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Championship by crushing Thailand, 74-52, last night to clinch the lone spot alloted for the Southeast Asian zone in the Fiba Asia Cup in Tokyo in September.
The Nationals gave the Thais no moving room from the opening buzzer, cruising to an early 26-point lead before sweeping the five-country meet with an average winning margin of 30 points.
Marcus Douthit, Garvo Lanete and Mac Baracael delivered at the outset and Chris Tiu picked it up from there to preside over a sizzling 25-7 run for a 41-15 halftime advantage.
The host country regrouped in the second half and managed to bring the lead down to 17 to the delight of the highly partisan crowd at the 700-Year Stadium in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Coach Jong Uichico immediately sued for a timeout after back-to-back baskets by Sukhdave Ghogar, 62-45, and Smart Gilas again regained control in the closing minutes.
Last year, Smart Gilas topped the same field with a 40-point winning average and advanced to the Fiba Asia Championship in Wuhan, China where the Nationals finished fourth.
This year’s crop demolished Singapore by 38 points, Malaysia by 35, Indonesia by 28 before walking away with another crown against the Thais.
Other members of the team were Woody Co, Borgie Hermida, LA Tenorio, Dave Marcelo, Emman Monfort and Aldrech Ramos. June Navarro