By REYNALD MAGALLON
Gilas Pilipinas launched its “Redemption Tour” with a resounding 94-49 victory over Malaysia in the 5-on-5 men’s basketball competition in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Elephant Hall 2 at the Morodok Techo National Stadium on Tuesday, May 9.
As hot as the humid weather inside the venue, largely due to the afternoon heat, the Filipinos came out guns blazing in the opening frame and breezed through the hapless Malaysians to pick up the huge 45-point win.
Gilas newcomers led the way for the Filipinos with Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser anchoring the ruthless assault with 15 points – 11 of which came in the first half while Michael Phillips hauled down 15 huge rebounds to go along with his nine points.
Arvin Tolentino also contributed 10 as Gilas barely needed contributions from its big guns like Justin Brownlee, who only finished with 11,
Marcio Lassiter and CJ Perez finished with nine and eight, respectively, while young guns Jerom Lastimosa and Mason Amos had their share in the victory with eight points apiece.
With Malaysia trying to keep in step with Gilas in the early goings of the contest, the Filipinos embarked on a massive 18-3 run that turned a slim 10-4 margin into a 27-9 advantage.
Malaysia never recovered from there as Gilas went on to flex their muscles inside the paint while also leaning on its relentless transition attack to stretch the lead to its largest at 50 points, 82-32 late in the third quarter.
Yi Huo Wong was the lone bright spot and the only double-digit scorer for the Malaysians with 15 points built on three triples.
The Nationals resume its quest for the gold medal on Thursday, May 11, when it takes on a Cambodian squad bannered by three naturalized players.
