MANILA (Philippines) - History was made in the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games today as Vietnam claimed their first medal in basketball ever while the Philippines got their first gold medal in women’s basketball. The men’s basketball team of the Philippines extended their dominance in the competition by securing their 18^th gold medal as well.

Vietnam suffered a heartbreaking loss to Thailand in the Semi-finals, but bounced back to win the bronze with a strong first half finish over Indonesia, 86-71.

The two teams went back and forth for much of the first two intervals, but Vietnam broke out to an 8-0 run to close the half from which Indonesia never recovered from. Vietnam’s leading scorer Chris Dierker only scoring 1 point in the first half, Vietnam were able to maintain momentum going into the last 20 minutes all the way until the final buzzer.

Five players eventually score in double-digits for Vietnam, led by Tran Dang Khoa who had 21 on 50 percent shooting. Indonesia also featured a balanced offense with 4 players in double digits, but too many turnovers (19) led to their eventual defeat.

The win resulted in Vietnam claiming their first medal ever in a SEA Games basketball competition.

The Philippines headed into the game for the women’s basketball gold medal without having ever won the tournament. Thailand, on the other hand, had won 5 times prior to this year. A new page in history was turned when the Philippines led from start to finish to win, 91-71.

Thailand had tried to stay close, clawing back from a double-digit lead to trail by only 2 at halftime. However, foul trouble limited their stars, Tiffany Bias and Supawadee Kunchuan, from getting any momentum as the Philippines broke away for good. Bias led Thailand with 15 points while Kunchuan had 12 of her own.

The crowd ecstatically cheered on for their hometown countrywomen as they put on highlight after highlight on their way to history. Jack Animam (21 points) and Arfil Bernardino (10 points, 14 rebounds) dominated the paint for the Philippines as they ran away with the win.

In the SEA Games men’s basketball Final, 17-time winners Philippines came into the matchup beating their opponents by an average of 47.3 points per game while scoring 113.3 points per contest. Despite coming in as underwhelming favorites, Thailand were able to keep it closely contested throughout the first half. At the end of the first 20 minutes of action, Thailand trailed by merely 48-39.

The second half was a different story as the Philippines started connecting on their three-pointers to break open a 40-15 third quarter advantage. Gilas cruised the rest of the way for a 115-81 win to clinch the gold medal once again.

Thailand relied once again on a herculean performance from Tyler Lamb who had 33 points, 8 rebounds, and 6 assists. Big man Chanatip Jakrawan also added in 15 points and 8 boards.

The Philippines had a whopping 7 players reach double-digits in scoring, led by June Mar Fajardo who had 17 points. The second half featured a bombard of three-pointers, resulting in a shooting percentage of 50 percent from beyond the arc for the gold medalists.

FIBA