THE Gilas Pilipinas cadets stayed unbeaten in the Southeast Asia Basketball Association (Seaba) Cup with another dominating performance, drubbing Indonesia, 83-52, for its third straight win on Wednesday night at the Stadium 29 in Bangkok, Thailand.
Far Eastern University (FEU) teammates RR Pogoy and Michael Tolomia each had 12 points to lead the Philippines, which is now assured of a spot in the International Basketball Federation (Fiba) Asia Challenge in Tehran, Iran, this September.
The Filipinos faced host Thailand in a battle of unbeaten teams late Thursday. The Thais also went 3-0 after dismantling Singapore, 80-28.
Kevin Ferrer chipped in 10 markers, while team captain Troy Rosario added nine points and nine rebounds off the bench for of Head Coach Nash Racela. Guard Jio Jalalon also dished out a solid game with nine points and seven assists.
Gilas needed a strong defensive fourth quarter to pull away as the Filipinos held the Indonesians to only nine points in the final 10 minutes.
Holding a 61-45 advantage, the Filipinos dropped a 14-0 bomb capped by Tolomia’s jumper to erect a 75-45 spread with 7:21 left in the game.
The Indons never had an answer to the Filipinos’ surge to absorb their fourth loss in as many games. Surliyadin Surliyadin led Indonesia with 12 points Racela was happy to take the victory but told his players to sustain the defensive intensity, especially in their gold-medal match against the Thais on Saturday.
“As a team, I think we have the tendency to relax on defense. We can’t do that against Thailand. They are well-prepared in the tournament,” Racela said.
Thailand and Philippines are safe in the Fiba Asia Challenge in Iran scheduled from September 9 to 18. The Asia Challenge will serve as the first step in determining the qualifiers for the 2017 Fiba Asia Cup where Asia and Oceania will be combined for the first time under one qualifier.
Malaysia and Singapore will clash for bronze medal on Saturday.