The Gilas cadets broke no sweat at all after pulling away early en route to a 126-21 destruction of Timor Leste Friday in the 2015 Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball tournament at the OCBC Arena in Singapore.
The Philippines used a 40-3 first quarter onslaught to kickstart the annihilation as the team poured basket after basket. The team never relented from that point as the margin kept growing.
With the win, the Gilas cadets sweep the elimination round and shall wait for their opponent in the playoffs.
Prince Rivero poured a game-high 24 points on 12-for-13 shooting in only 21:23 of play. Six more wards scored in double-digits for the Gilas cadets including Kevin Ferrer, who hit 19 points on 5-for-9 triples and Mac Belo who finished with 15 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists.
The Philippines shot a red-hot 68 percent from the field including 37 percent from beyond the arc. The team also assisted 33 of its 56 makes and had a commanding 50-22 advantage in rebounding.
Timor Leste put on a lethargic shooting night, finishing 7-for-51 (14 percent) from the field. In addition, the squad turned the ball over 27 times which included 22 coming off steals from the Philippines.
The Philippines resumes action on Sunday night for the semi-finals.
