Philippines - RP 5 routs Indonesia

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What was expected to be a preview of the clash for the gold medal between the Philippines and Indonesia turned out to be another workout for the powerhouse Harbour Centre-RP men’s basketball team on Sunday in the 24th Southeast Asian Games here.

The Filipinos needed only a quarter and a half to take the fight out of the Indons on the way to a ghastly 75-49 rout and move two games closer to the finals before Philippine flag-waving fans at the Keelapirom Stadium here.

Fil-American Gabe Norwood again starred for the nationals and finished with 19 points and eight rebounds, as the team rolled into its second straight victory.

“We expected it to be the championship game, but Indonesia appeared just contented playing for the silver,” said coach Junel Baculi. “It appeared nag-relax na sila [Indons] after talunin nila ’yung Malaysia. But we don’t care. All we’re here for is the gold.”

The Philippines won the SEA Games basketball gold a record seven straight times from 1991 to 2003, before it was suspended by the Fiba for two years.

The Filipinos will next take on Malaysia (1-1), a 70-65 winner over Thailand, on Wednesday (Dec. 12), before clashing with host Thailand (0-1) on Thursday, Dec. 13.

The nationals played their hearts out both in offense and defense to the delight of a sizeable crowd at the Suranaree University Technology Stadium for the match against the Indons, who gave the coaching staff a scare after it beat Malaysia.

But once the Filipinos got their groove minutes into the second quarter, the Indons were left gasping, as a huge run started the Filipinos’ breakaway, 33-20, behind Norwood and Jonathan Fernandez.

Another 13-4 salvo gave the nationals a 22-point bubble after the first two quarters, and come the third, padded it to the biggest lead of the match, 69-33, on a split from the line by Jervy Cruz with still 4:11 to go in the game.*