GILAS Pilipinas once again shrugged off a slow start, recovering in the nick of time to survive a pesky Vietnam team in a thrilling 78-67 finish in the continuation of the men’s basketball tournament at the 33rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games on Monday afternoon, at Nimibutr Stadium in Bangkok, Thailand.
Playing for their 20th gold medal in the biennial meet, Gilas recovered from a double-digit deficit in the first half, with guard Robert Bolick, Matthew Wright, and big man Poy Erram leading the comeback.
Vietnam started the game hot from beyond the arc as the team punched a string of triples to build a 14-point advantage, 24-38.
The Coach Norman Black-headed team responded with a 10-0 run to cut Vietnam’s lead to just two possessions. They ended the first 24 minutes of action at 37-41.
Riding on their momentum, Gilas picked up where they left off in the third quarter of play, dropping a quick 8-1 bomb to snatch the lead from the hands of the Vietnamese.
It was then a back-and-forth basketball game with both teams trading baskets with each other. Clinging to a 64-62 lead, Bolick and Erram knocked down back-to-back three-point shots to stretch the Gilas’ lead to eight points and sealed the hard-fought win for the National team.
The team’s last-minute replacement, Erram, led the scoring charge for Team Philippines as he tallied 15 points, five rebounds, two steals, and a block. Bolick followed suit with 13 points, 10 of those coming from the last quarter. The returning Wright and Jamie Malonzo also contributed 14 and 10 points, respectively.
“It was a hard-earned win. It was a difficult game for us. The Vietnamese team played very well, and we struggled defensively again,” Black stated in the post-game conference.
With this victory, the National team completed their group phase sweep, finishing the elimination round with a 2-0 win-loss record, having previously beaten Malaysia, 83-58, last Sunday.
The team now enters the semifinals as the top-seeded team, with them two victories away from defending their title in the biennial meet. Gilas will now wait for their semifinal matchup on Thursday against an opponent yet to be determined.