Gilas Pilipinas annihilates Singapore to punch SEA Games semis ticket

Justin Brownlee

Gilas Pilipinas jumped to a blazing 21-0 start and shredded Singapore to pieces, 105-45, to advance to the semifinals of the Southeast Asian Games men's 5-on-5 basketball on Saturday, May 13. Fresh from a shocking 79-68 loss to Group A leader Cambodia (2-0), the Filipinos vented their ire on the Singaporeans to end the group stage with a 2-1 record and punch their final four ticket. The Philippines will face either defending champion Indonesia (2-0) or Thailand (2-0) in the semifinals, depending on which wins their Sunday clash for the top spot in Group B. CJ Perez and Justin Brownlee (197-F-1988, college: St.John's) set the tone in the rout with 6 and 5 points, respectively, in the opening 21-0 run and Gilas Pilipinas never looked back. Singapore, on the other hand, struggled to score that Filipinos in attendance at the Morodok Techo Sports Complex here cheered for the opposing team when Jun Xavier Ng cut their deficit to 5-29 at end of the first quarter. Brownlee finished with 12 points, 8 assists, and 6 rebounds, while Perez put up a 13-point, 11-rebound double-double. Marcio Lassiter (190-G/F-1987, college: CS Fullerton) topscored with 16 points for the Philippines, which is seeking to recapture the SEA Games crown it ceded to Indonesia last year. 'This is basically our final practice for the semifinal game,' said Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes . 'We can't really go hard in practice. This was our preparatory practice. We wanted to already hurdle some of the things that we might need against whoever our opponent is.' The semifinals is set on Monday, May 15.
Courtesy of: rappler.com

Tags : JUSTIN BROWNLEE, SEA GAMES BASKETBALL, USA NATIONAL TEAM