JAKARTA, Indonesia—Smart Gilas Pilipinas struggled for three quarters before pulling away to a 97-71 rout of Malaysia, on Thursday night, in the opener of the 9th Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championship at the BritAma Arena here.
From a forgettable first half, the Nationals regrouped to finally muzzle the hot-shooting Malaysians, who fired eight of their 11 three-pointers and led, 41-36, at half-time.
JV Casio drilled in 17 of his 19 points as Smart Gilas overhauled a five-point deficit and roared to a commanding 73-59 spread in the final minutes of the fourth.
Mac Baracael also shot accurately from the perimeter while Japeth Aguilar, Dylan Ababou and team captain Chris Tiu found their rhythm to fuel the Nationals’ strong finish.
The Filipinos, who missed wingman Marcio Lassiter to a back injury, had 19 turnovers, most of them when Malaysia was busy frustrating Smart Gilas with its three-pointers.
“Malaysia hit those crazy threes and we started out flat,” said Casio, who played despite a hurting right foot.
“We didn’t have enough practice time for this tournament like we used to,” he added.
Injuries to Chris Lutz and Aguilar and the fever that hit Ababou prior to this meet, which offers three slots to the Fiba Asia Championship in Wuhan, China on Sept. 15 to 25, prevented Smart Gilas from a full practice session before leaving.
“We’re not ready for the Seaba. After the Champions Cup, we rested and couldn’t work with anything,” said Toroman. “It’s like we just played for the first time together.”
From a six-point advantage early in the second period, Smart Gilas ran into a maze of errors, giving the Malaysians a chance to regain the lead, 36-30, on a near-perfect outside shooting.
Wei Hong Cho drilled Malaysia’s eighth triple of the night and Guganeswaran Batumalai’s squeezed through traffic with a twisting layup that kept them in control, 41-36, at half-time.
Lassiter again hurt his back in practice on Wednesday and is out of the tournament for good.
The 6-foot-2 Lassiter, who strained his back four days ago before the team left Manila, fell on all fours during one of the drills and had to be helped to the sidelines.
“I feel better today. But I wish I could help the team,” said Lassiter, Toroman’s top wing defender.
Smart Gilas finance officer and delegation head Butch Antonio said Lassiter would be sent home to determine the extent of his injury.
Meanwhile, Fiba Asia gave naturalized center Marcus Douthit the green light to play for the PH five in all Fiba-sanctioned tournaments, including the Asian championship in Wuhan, China on Sept. 15-25, where the winner qualifies to the 2012 London Olympics.
The scores:
PHILIPPINES 97 — Casio 19, Aguilar 18, Douthit 14, Tiu 12, Barroca 9, Baracael 8, Lutz 8, Ababou 5, Ballesteros 4.
MALAYSIA 71 — Ho 11, Batumalai 10, Ng 10, Loh 9, Chee 8, Wee 7, Kuek 5, Chin 4, Choo 3, Ong 2, Lau 2, Kuppusamy 0.
Quarters: 20-all, 36-41, 63-57, 97-71