Return Of The Kings: Gilas Pilipinas Defeats Cambodia To Reclaim SEA Games Gold
As the saying goes, "payback is a b****." That's exactly what happened as Gilas Pilipinas edged Cambodia with an 80 - 69 victory to bag the highly coveted Southeast Asian Games gold. It was a revenge match of sorts when they lost to the Cambodians in the group stage of the tournament a few days ago.
Prior to the gold medal game with the host country, Gilas beat Indonesia in a rematch to settle the score from last year's SEA Games in Hanoi, Vietnam.
From the get-go, Gilas got to work and built a double-digit leads, keeping the Cambodians at bay throughout the game.
It wasn't easy for the Filipinos to sustain their leads, however. The Cambodians were still relentless with their scoring albeit being down by mostly 13 points.
The fourth quarter was crucial for Gilas as the Cambodians started to make runs keeping the deficit to as low as 5 points in the game.
The Filipinos managed to stave off each fightback from Cambodia. Ultimately, Gilas' collective effort was just too much to handle for Cambodia.
Naturalized player Justin Brownlee led all scorers for Gilas with 23 points, 7 boards, 4 assists, a steal and a block.
Chris Newsome added 16 poins and dropped 4 dimes while Marcio Lassiter had 10. Christian Standhardinger contributed 9 points and 7 rebounds. CJ Perez chalked up 9 points and 5 rebounds before he got fouled out of the game.
Big man Brandon Ganuelas- Rosser, who was one of the x-factors in the game, also had 9 points and 6 rebounds.
Gilas Pilipinas definitely succeeded in their redemption tour at the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Brandon Peterson finished with 18 points, Darrin Dorsey had 17, while both Sayeed Pridgett and Dwayne Morgan scored 13 for silver medalists Cambodia.
The Scores:
Philippines 80 – Brownlee 23, Newsome 16, Lassiter 10, Perez 9, Standhardinger 9, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Lastimosa 4, Tolentino 0, Ross 0, Phillips 0, Amos 0.
Cambodia 69 – Peterson 18, Dorsey 17, Morgan 13, Pridgett 13, Henderson 6, Lopes 2, Ravuth 0.
Quarters scores:
21 - 22, 44 - 33, 64 - 51, 80 - 69.