For the first 12 minutes of the contest, it seemed that Thailand was on the verge of keeping up with the tournament-leading Gilas Pilipinas. But Japeth Aguilar and Gilas decided to turn it up, lambasting Thailand the rest of the way to take a 108-53 win, Tuesday night.
The Philippines remain on top of the ledger with Indonesia as both are sporting 4-0 slates. Thailand, on the other hand, cannot afford to lose the rest of the way with a 3-2 card.
After being on the background for Gilas’ first three games, Aguilar did not hold back in this game, going a perfect 10-for-10 from the field for 23 points. The 30-year-old stretch forward also grabbed five rebounds and swatted away two shots in just 17 minutes of action.
“In the previous games he was content with playing a support role, setting screens, and rebounding,” Gilas head coach Chot Reyes remarked. “Today, they did a good job on our other offensive weapons but Japeth came through. That’s how the team is built.”
But it was not just Aguilar who stepped up as Gilas’ shock troopers Calvin Abueva and Terrence Romeo did their part as well, giving life to the team after leading by just four after the first quarter ended.
“The second unit with Terrence, Calvin, and Japeth gave us the separation we needed in this ball game,” Reyes furthered.
The duo sparked a 25-6 run midway through the second frame that blew the game wide open. Abueva finished the game with 15 points and six rebounds while Romeo chipped in 11 points.
Gilas led by as much as 59 points, 108-49. The Philippines also out-rebounded Thailand 50-33 while shooting an excellent 53 percent from the field, including 36 percent from downtown.
The tournament’s leading scorer Chitchai Ananti at 24.0 points per game was held scoreless, attempting just two shots in 15 minutes of game time.
“We came to this ball game with the defensive focus of stopping number 77 [Ananti] because we felt that he was Thailand’s top scorer. He can flat out play and he scores in a lot of ways so we challenged our defenders to lock him down,” Reyes explained as RR Pogoy led the defensive onslaught.
In addition, after firing 40 points in their game against Myanmar, Wutipong Dasom only had two points.
Teerawat Chanthachon was the only Thailand player to score in double-figures with 16 points to go along with seven rebounds.
The Philippines will take on the 1-4 Vietnam in their penultimate game of the tournament on Wednesday, May 17 at 7:00pm. Thailand, who are still in contention despite the loss, faces Singapore in a do-or-die affair at 5:00pm of the same day.
The Scores:
Philippines (108) – Aguilar 23, Abueva 15, Blatche 11, Romeo 11, Fajardo 9, Malicsi 8, Wright 7, Rosario 6, Castro William 6, Jalalon 6, Almazan 4, Pogoy 2.
Thailand (53) – Chanthachon 16, Muangboon 7, Klahan P 7, Samerjai 7, Ghogar 6, Sunthonsiri 4, Klahan C 2, Dasom 2, Boonserm 2, Ananti 0, Jaisanuk 0, Lodliang 0.
Quarterscores: 18-14, 51-26, 80-43, 108-53.
