Sweetest sweep
BANGKOK—Team Philippines is languishing in the middle of the overall medal race in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, but that hardly matters after a glorious Friday that had the men’s and women’s Gilas basketball teams carving out thrilling wins in a hostile environment here.
The women touched off the day by holding on in the stretch to survive Thailand, 73-70, before the Filipino men took the floor next to rally from a huge second half deficit and carve out a 70-64 win also against the home team at the packed at Nimibutr Stadium here.
Both Philippine squads overcame a lot of adversities. And both came here without the best lineups possible as a flip-flopping organizing committee changed eligibility rules near the 11th hour.
That made the wins all the more sweet, as the men rallied behind Jaime Malonzo to key the win that allowed the Filipinos to retain the title they won over a souped-up Cambodia squad two years ago.
The women, meanwhile, won a third gold in the last five editions, and coach Patrick Aquino agreed that it was the biggest one of all.
“The girls really worked hard for this,” said Aquino as Gilas atoned for its silver finish two years ago in Cambodia.
Gilas drew big games from Kacey dela Rosa, Sophia Dignadice and Afril Bernardino, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds to claim the win that they really earned over a hard-fighting Thailand crew that also left it all on the floor which made for the thrilling finish.
“This is really sweet considering the adversities that we had to overcome,” Aquino went on. “This title is very special because all the players believed we can do it and they all made it happen.”
The Philippine side controlled the second to fourth quarters but almost squandered a 10-point lead down the stretch.
It took some final stops, including one block from Dela Rosa with Gilas up two, 72-70, to get the job done and ignite a celebration on the floor among the Filipinos and an emotional scene from the game Thais.
And that was half of the job done for the Philippines in the sport dearest to everyone back home.
The Gilas Men then took all that Thailand could offer and had to dig deep behind Malonzo in the stretch to complete the sweep. Not bad for a squad denied of its best roster.
The Gilas Women had their share of line-up woes, too.
Thailand’s eligibility issues prevented key players Stefanie Berberabe from playing while Angel Surada and Karl Pingol came in late due to UAAP finals duties with National University.
“We’re just happy that we were able to overcome that,” said Aquino after Thailand had decided that it would bar naturalized players or those who failed to secure a passport before 16 from playing.
