AS expected, Batang Gilas romped its way to the crown in the 10th Southeast Asian Basketball Association (Seaba) Under-18 Championship.
The young Filipino dribblers swept the opposition in the biennial tournament, capping a successful campaign with an 86-49 demolition of Thailand in the gold-medal match on Thursday in Medan, Indonesia.
National University (NU) juniors standout Joshua Sinclair again provided the spark off the bench for the Mark Oliver-coached team with 15 points on six-of-10 shooting.
The Philippines led the march of two other countries, Thailand and Indonesia, which beat Malaysia, 67-57, for the bronze medal, to the International Basketball Federation Asia Under-18 Championship in Iran in July.
San Beda Red Cub John Bryle Bahio posted a double-double game for Batang Gilas with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Batang Gilas trailed, 17-19, as the Thais played physical defense against the defending champions. But the Filipinos seized control with a 31-13 second-quarter spurt for a 48-32 advantage going into the break.
Chiang Kai Shek College standout Jonas Tibayan and San Beda’s Evan Nelle each had 11 markers for the Philippines, which has now won eight of the 10 editions of the Seaba. Malaysia won in 2002 in Kuala Lumpur, where the Filipinos finished fourth andin 2006 in Segamat.
The victory over the Thais in was a far cry from Batang Gilas’ 101-45 thumping of the same team in the preliminary round. Pongsatorn Tabtim was the only Thai to hit double figures with 14 points.
Catching the last bus for Iran were the Indons, who trailed the Malaysians, 40-45, entering the fourth period. Indonesia outscored Malaysia, 27-12, in the final 10 minutes.
Aside from the host Iran, defending champion China is already qualified for the Asian U-18 Championship. The other subzones are still conducting their qualifying tournaments.