Team Sinag Pilipinas
opened their 2013 SEA Games campaign on a winning, albeit slow, note, getting
by the feisty Singaporeans, 88-75. In contrast, projected title contenders
Malaysia, Thailand, and Indonesia all started strong with wins on Days 1 &
2.
 |
| Sinag Pilipinas started its gold medal campaign against Singapore on Day 2. (image by Josh Reyes) |
In the lone
game of the Philippine team, Mark Belo and Kevin Ferrer, who was nursing flu
symptoms, gave coach Jong Uichico a big lift off the bench as the Pinoys
outlasted a very game Singaporean side. Singapore, coming off a
tighter-than-expected loss to Thailand, came out smoking in this one, with
scores from Wei Long Wong, Hanbin Ng, and Russel Low giving them a surprising
18-8 lead in the first period. This was a wake-up call for the heavily favored
Filipinos, who had to lean on their second unit and naturalized player Marcus
Douthit to finally rid of the stubborn Singaporeans. Wong, who is a mainstay
for the Singapore Slingers in the ASEAN Basketball League (ABL), led all
scorers with 23 points on top of 7 rebounds, 6 assists, and 2 triples. Together
with fellow spitfire guard Desmond Oh, Wong repeatedly penetrated the porous
Philippine defense and created scoring opportunities for himself and his
teammates.
 |
| It was an underwhelming debut for the Pinoys. (image by Josh Reyes) |
On the other hand, coach Uichico’s wards visibly struggled with
their chemistry as they have been practicing on-and-off for barely a month
only. They were able to overhaul their deficit and tie the game at the half and
then turn up the heat in the second half, but they can definitely ill afford to
play this way against the stronger Thais, Indons, and Malaysians.
Sinag-Pilipinas next takes on the lowly Cambodians today.
In the
meantime, Malaysia became the early leader in the team standings after winning
their first two assignments. The Malaysians leaned on Shee Fai-Loh’s 17 points,
7 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 triples to beat Indonesia on Day 1, 61-53, and
then banked on Loh’s sublime shooting again as the Malaysians, coached by
Filipino Paul Advincula, bucked a slow start to defeat Cambodia on Day 2,
73-58. Loh rattled in 11 of his 16 points in a pivotal 16-0 second quarter run
that enabled the Malaysians to pull away. Loh is a mainstay of the Westports
Malaysia Dragons in the ABL. Aside from Malaysia, Thailand also remained
undefeated after its opening day win over Singapore, 69-59. The Thais fell
behind early in this one, but they put together sublime production in the
middle two periods to beat the Singaporeans. The Thais used superior interior
offense to beat Singapore here, leaning on Danai Kongkum’s flawless 7/7 FG
shooting. Kongkum led all scorers with 21 markers, while Ratdech Kruatiwa
dropped 2 treys and finished with 8 points. Indonesia, on the other hand,
rebounded from its opening day loss by disposing of the home side, 83-40.
Myanmar just had no answer for a more talented Indon quintet, which saw five
players scoring 11 points.
In the final
day of the tourney, the Pinoys and the Thais will dispute the only SEABA slot
in the 2012 FIBA-Asia Cup, while Singapore and Indonesia will battle it out for
third place. Respati Pamungkas was, by far, the best player here, adding 11
boards to his 11-point total. Starting PG Kelly Nugroho also did well, draining
3 triples.
Today’s
other match-ups feature Malaysia versus Singapore and Indonesia against
Thailand.
Day 1:
THAILAND over SINGAPORE, 69-59
THA 69 - Kongkum 21, Jantuma 13, Ghogar
10, Kruatiwa 8, Dasom 7, Apiromvilaichai Dn 4, Suttisin 2, Lertlaokul 2, Kaedum
2, Apiromvilaichai Dg 0, Klahan 0
SIN 59 - Ng 13, Low 10, Oh 9, Lim 9,
Goh 6, Wong 4, Wu 2, Liew 2, Hong 2, Khaw 2
QS: 14-16, 37-29, 51-39, 69-59
 |
| The Thais had to withstand a game Singaporean side on Day 1. |
 |
| Sukhdave Ghogar (15) jumps for the rebound. |
 |
| Mana Jantuma of Thailand tries to penetrate the SG defense. |
MALAYSIA over INDONESIA, 61-53
MAS 61 - Loh 17, Ooi 11, Koh 10, Wong
6, Choo 5, Kwaan 5, Kuek 4, Ong 2, Soo 1, Ng 0, Gan 0
INA 53 - Dhyaksa 24, Prawiro 12, Putra
10, Sitepu 3, Nugroho 2, Gunawan 2, Gemilang 0, Pamungkas 0, Siregar 0, Ruslan
0
QS: 18-9, 33-15, 39-37, 61-53
CAMBODIA over MYANMAR, 75-60
CAM 75 - Ratana 32, Boroth 16, Dar 15,
Phatara 7, Tait 3, Sovann 2, Kim 0, Sok T 0, Ouch 0, Pheng 0, Therro 0, Sok S 0
MYA 60 - Wang 22, Pyae 10, Thein 7,
Aung YG 6, La 5, Kyi 4, Sett 3, Sei 2, Nyan 1, Yan 0, Zaw 0, Aung PW 0
QS: 42-11, 54-29, 66-47, 75-60
Day2:
MALAYSIA over CAMBODIA, 73-58
QS: 7-11, 35-28, 52-41, 73-58
PHILIPPINES over SINGAPORE, 88-75
PHL 88 - Belo 16, Douthit 14, Ferrer
14, Parks 10, Ganuelas 9, Ravena 9, Sumang 8, Lanete 6, Pascual J 2, Pascual R 0,
Cruz 0
SIN 75 - Wong 23, Ng 11, Low 9, Wu 9,
Oh 7, Lim 7, Liew 5, Goh 4, Tan 0, Hong 0, Khaw 0
QS: 13-22, 33-33, 64-58, 88-75
 |
| Russel Low was impressive against Sinag Pilipinas. (image by Lai Jun Wei/RedSports.sg) |
INDONESIA over MYANMAR, 83-40
INA 83 - Nugroho 11, Prawiro 11,
Gemilang 11, Pamungkas 11, Siregar 11, Sitepu 9, Putra 6, Ruslan 4, Gunawan 3,
Dhyaksa 3, Ferdinand 3, Utomo 0
MYA 40 - Wang 10, Thein 7, Aung YG 6,
Kyi 6, Pyae 3, Sett 2, Sei 2, Aung PW 2, Nyan 1, Yan 1, La 0, Zaw 0
QS: 31-9, 47-21, 68-25, 83-40
Unless otherwise specified, images are from the official 27th SEA Games Facebook page.
0 Comment