THE Gilas Pilipinas cadets squad swept its way to the crown with an impressive 97-80 win over Thailand in the finals of the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (Seaba) Stankovic Cup on Saturday at the Stadium 29 in Bangkok.
The Filipinos shot better compared to their 66-65 escape to the same opponent on Thursday, but needed a strong fourth-quarter finish to win the gold medal of the tournament.
Team captain Troy Rosario led Gilas 5 balanced attack with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Jio Jalalon added 16 markers and seven boards, as the Filipinos shot 12-of-32 from the rainbow territory.
In their one-point win against the Thais, Gilas 5 shot horrific, missing 34 of their 37 attempts in the three-point area.
Mark Belo added 14 markers, while Michael Tolomia contributed 12, including six straight to put the game out of reach, 87-72, with 2:37 remaining.
Almon Vosotros also played big, particularly in the second period, where he unloaded three triples that allowed Gilas Pilipinas to grab a 49-45 halftime lead.
Rosario then took the scoring cudgels in the third period and his back-to-back three-pointers led to the Philippines’s 63-52 advantage, before the Thais closed out the period with a 10-4 blast, courtesy of Chitchai Ananti and trailed by just five, 62-67.
Thailand moved within three, 66-69, but Belo and Jalalon joined forces for a decisive 10-0 blast, to seize a 79-66 cushion, with 5:52 remaining.
The hosts lost steam in the remaining period, missing their attempts and turning the ball over to settle for silver medal.
Ananti led the squad of Head Coach Tim Lewis with 19 markers.
Singapore beat Malaysia, 68-62, to claim the bronze medal in this five-nation tournament. The Philippines and Thailand advanced to the International Basketball Federation Asia Challenge this September in Tehran, Iran.
RR Pogoy and Kevin Ferrer netted 10 and eight points, respectively, for the winning squad of Head Coach Nash Racela.