By ADRIAN STEWART CO
Gilas Pilipinas is back as men’s basketball king in the Southeast Asian Games after a masterful 80-69 beating of Cambodia in their gold medal game at the Morodok Techno Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on Tuesday night, May 16.
Justin Brownlee led the way with 23 points, including three three-point conversions, to go with seven rebounds, four assists, a steal, and a block as the Gilas Pilipinas bounced back from its runner-up finish last year in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Chris Newsome chipped in 16 points, four assists and two rebounds, Marcio Lassiter contributed 10 markers, five rebounds and two steals, while Christian Standhardinger, Jaymar Perez and Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser added nine each for Gilas.
Down 7-2 early in the game, Gilas Pilipinas leaned on baskets by Brownlee and Newsome to take a 17-12 lead, but Cambodia answered with their inside baskets to snatch a 22-21 lead after the first quarter.
Gilas opened the second period with triples from Brownlee and Lassiter and free throws from Standhardinger to take a 32-25 advantage. It grew further to 39-27 with a three-point play from Standhardinger and a two-pointer from Newsome.
Cambodia, which were reinforced by six naturalized players from the United States, managed to cut the deficit to single digits, but a dunk by Ganuelas-Rosser and a jumper from Jerom Lastimosa gave Gilas Pilipinas a 44-33 halftime lead.
Cambodia opened the third quarter with consecutive baskets to cut the deficit to 47-52, but Gilas Pilipinas had quick answers from Brownlee, Newsome and Ganuelas-Rosser to widen the lead anew to 64-51.
Cambodia threatened Gilas Pilipinas to start the final quarter with eight unanswered points to cut the deficit to 59-64, but the Philippine team uncorked back-to-back triples from Brownlee and Perez to make it a 70-59 score.
The home team still tried to come close with baskets from Darrin Dorsey, but a jumper by Lassiter and five straight points from Newsome gave Gilas Pilipinas an 80-69 lead with 16 seconds left.
Brandon Peterson tallied double-double 18 points and 14 rebounds, Dorsey added 17 markers, while Sayeed Pridgett and Dwayne Morgan ended with 13 each for Cambodia, which attained its best ever finish in the men’s basketball.
PHILIPPINES 80 — Brownlee 23, Newsome 16, Lassiter 10, Standhardinger 9, Perez 9, Ganuelas-Rosser 9, Lastimosa 4, Ross 0, Tolentino 0, Phillips 0, Amos 0.
CAMBODIA 69 — Peterson 18, Dorsey 17, Pridgett 13, Morgan 13, Henderson 6, Lopes 2, Hoeup 0.
Quarterscores: 21-22, 44-33, 64-51, 80-69./ASC, WDJ