Gilas Pilipinas Basketball

What was only an afterthought in the last two stagings of the Southeast Asian Games finally became the reality for the Gilas Pilipinas Women national team after beating Thailand decisively, 91-71 on Tuesday night inside the Mall of Asia Arena in Manila to annex their first ever gold medal in the women’s basketball event of the regional meet.

Jack Danielle Animam and Chack Cabinbin joined forces in a telling third quarter run that would push the Philippines on top by a considerable margin for good.

And in front of a pre-dominantly Filipino crowd inside the venue, the home side never looked back to make history at the 30th Southeast Asian Games Philippines 2019.

The Philippines had a strong start in the game, leading by as much as 11 before Thailand, led by naturalized WNBA player Tiffany Bias, rallied back to make it 45-43 entering the break.

But later, the nationals turned a slim 52-48 edge into a 64-48 bubble following 12 unanswered points. They outscored Thailand, 23-9 in the third period.

It was all Philippines from there, with key players taking charge for the historic moment.

Animam played her best game of the tournament, finishing with 21 points on an efficient 9-of-10 shooting.

She had ample support as sharpshooter Janine Pontejos contributed 16 points including three outside connections, while Kelli Hayes and Khate Castillo each added 11 markers.

Gilas made eight triples, and shot significantly better at 48 percent overall from the field compared to a 40 percent clip from the visitors.

Bias led Thailand but was limited to only 15 points on 6-of-17 shooting to go with four boards and four dimes.

Three others finished in double-digit scoring for Thailand, although they were overpowered in several key categories of the game.

It is the first gold medal in three tries for head coach Patrick Aquino in the SEA Games, and his second overall following a 2016 gold in the SEABA Women’s Championship.

The scores:
Philippines (91) – Animam 21, Pontejos 16, Hayes 11, Castillo 11, Bernardino 10, Cabinbin 7, Jose 6, Nabalan 5, Castro 2, Prado 2, Chan 0, Tongco 0.

Thailand – Bias 15, Kumchuan 12, Udomsuk 12, Yothanan 10, Kaichaiyapoon 5, Maihom 4, Phetsaenkha 3, Buapa 3, Phomrat 2, Klunbut 2, Sangmanee 0.

Quarterscores: 27-20, 45-43, 68-51, 91-71.