Coming off a come-from-behind finish yesterday against Malaysia, Thailand earned an easy victory, this time at the expense of debuting Vietnam, 76-51, to go 2-0 in the 2017 SEABA Championship on Saturday afternoon at the SMART-Araneta Coliseum.
Thailand’s Kannut Samerjai led all scorers with 14 points spiked by four triples alongside four dimes. Wuttipong Dasom chipped in 11, while Anuruk Lodliang had a notable statline of 10 points and nine rebounds.
Leading scorer Ananti Chitchai did not suit up for the game due to the right shin injury he had sustained against Malaysia.
Vietnam trailed by as much as 28, 52-24, midway into the third canto, but a 14-3 run of theirs — sealed by Le Phuoc Thang’s five straight points — lifted them to within 15, 57-38, with 48.3 seconds left in the said frame.
But the Thais still proved to be more dominant. A Sukhdave Ghogar three-point play conversion with 2:45 left to play gave Thailand an insurmountable 27-point lead, 73-46, enough to seal their second win.
The Vietnamese side were led by Vu Linh Tran and Van Hung Nguyen. Both scored 10 markers each with the former grabbing six rebounds while the latter added seven caroms. However, their team shot just 3-for-18 from distance.
Thailand edged Vietnam in terms of rebounds, 43-35, and their defense forced their counterparts to commit 25 turnovers. 12 of those miscues came from Thailand’s steals.
Thailand will look to make it a three-game streak as they battle Indonesia tomorrow, Sunday, May 14, at 3:00 PM. Vietnam, on the other hand, will try to post their first win against Myanmar also tomorrow at 5:00 PM.
The Scores:
Thailand (76) – Samerjai 14, Dasom 11, Lodliang 10, Jaisanuk 9, Ghogar 9, Chanthachon 9, Sunthonsiri 7, P. Klahan 4, C. Klahan 2, Boonsern 1, Muangboon 0.
Vietnam (51) – Tran 10, Nguyen VH 10, Nguyen TN 8, Le PT 7, Le NT 6, Nguyen HH 3, Trieu 3, To 2, Dang 2.
Quarterscores: 22-6. 40-22, 59-38, 76-51.
