KUALA LUMPUR – The Gilas cadets took the best Malaysia could offer in the first half before unleashing an attack that the host couldn’t handle, fashioning out a 98-66 victory to claim top seeding from their group in the SEA Games men’s basketball semi-finals at the MABA Stadium here Wednesday night.
Though reduced to a 10-man squad with 15 minutes left to play, Team Phl completed a masterful win over Malaysia to advance to the semis versus Singapore.
It’s Thailand against Indonesia in the other semis pairing, leaving Malaysia out of the medal matches after its loss to the Philippines in a tiff watched by an overflow crowd at the MABA Stadium.
Alaska Milk’s Carl Bryan Cruz and Meralco’s Baser Amer were tossed out of the game following a commotion that ensued as Kevin Ferrer’s and Malaysia center Kuek Tian Yuan’s hands got entangled, and both refused to break free from it.
There were pushing and shoving here and there.
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But when order was restored, two Filipino players were banished from the game and none from the home team.
“Malinis ang kunsensya ko, wala akong ginawa. Di ko alam bakit na-eject ako,” said Cruz.
Amer entered the fray, got shoved and was the one tossed out of the game.
“The refs said they caught them shoving,” said Gilas assistant coach Jimmy Alapag.
But there’s no stopping the Gilas juggernaught.
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The host team, however, was into the game only in the first half, failing to shake up the Filipinos even with two Gilas cadets gone.
Christian Standhardinger continued to buck inroads of fatigue, coming through with 18 points and the same number of rebounds.
Kobe Paras, the fans’ favorite, made a dazzling show for a second straight game, delivering 16 markers and eight boards.
Troy Rosario and Kiefer Ravena did their jobs without fanfare, both firing away 12 points.
The scores:
Philippines 98 – Standhardinger 18, Paras 16, Ravena 12, Rosario 12, Amer 10, Vosotros 6, Ferrer 6, Tolomia 5, Jose 4, Pessumal 4, Cruz 3, Parks 2.
Malaysia 66 – Kuek 14, Ting 10, Teo 9, Wong 8, Chee 7, Yeo 7, Loh 5, Lim 4, Ma 2, Wong 0, Soo 0.
Quarterscores: 18-20, 47-35, 73-46, 98-66
