Right from the get-go, a Gilas Pilipinas victory was already on sight.
Without breaking a sweat, the Nationals easily overpowered Myanmar by a 107-point margin, 147-40, to emphatically open their 2017 SEABA Championship title quest on Friday night at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
“It’s very rare we come to a game na tayo ang llamado, so we just wanted to come out and play the right way,” said Gilas coach Chot Reyes on the win.
Eight of Gilas’ players contributed double-digit outputs in the victory, with Calvin Abueva leading all scorers with 22 points on 66.6 shooting to go with six rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Allein Maliksi supplied 20.
It was all Team Pilipinas right from the very beginning, as they rained more than 60 points over the smaller and the younger Burmese cagers in the first half. They headed into the halftime break with a commanding 66-12 advantage.
The lead reached the 100-point barrier, 140-40, after a Roger Pogoy lay-up off a Jio Jalalon dish in transition, still with 2:56 left to play.
Pogoy finished with 17 markers, while June Mar Fajardo had 14. Jalalon and Troy Rosario each supplied 13 markers.
Myanmar were led by Aung Wana with 12 points, but he was the lone double-digit scorer for the Burmese squad.
Gilas shot 64 percent from the floor, and grabbed 57 rebounds. They also forced Myanmar to commit 38 turnovers — 25 coming from steals, and scored 54 off it.
Gilas will shoot for their second victory as they battle the 0-1 Singapore squad tomorrow, Saturday, May 13 at 7:00 PM, while Myanmar will face Vietnam on Sunday, May 14, at 5:00 PM.
The Scores:
Philippines (147) – Abueva 22, Maliksi 20, Pogoy 17, Fajardo 14, Jalalon 13, Rosario 13, Wright 12, Aguilar 11, Blatche 11, Almazan 6, Romeo 6, Castro 2.
Myanmar (40) – Wana 12, Aung M 8, Zaya 6, Aung P 3, Tin 3, Kaung 2, Thant 2, Sei 2, Sai 2, Thein T 0, Thein H 0, Wai 0.
Quarterscores: 32-7, 66-12, 110-29, 147-40.
