Justin Brownlee towed Gilas Pilipinas past Indonesia, 84-76, to keep their redemption tour going in the Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball tilt, Monday night at the Morodok Techo Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The naturalized forward finished with 34 points, scoring the first eight of a 12-0 run for the 82-74 lead with a minute left to play to eventually dethrone the team that ended the Filipino dribblers’ 33-year reign as kings of the region.
Brownlee shot 41-percent from the floor and also had nine rebounds, five assists, three steals, and two blocks in the victory that sent the crew to the finale, where they will be taking on the souped-up host nation for the gold.
The Cambodian crew beat Thailand in the semis opener earlier, 86-79, to reach the winner-take-all title bout set on Tuesday, 6 pm Manila time.
Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser made his presence felt as well in the triumph with 13 points, while Arvin Tolentino supplied 11 markers as the two youngsters helped out in the Philippines’ second-half surge after a sluggish start.
Now, the crew of Coach Chot Reyes will turn all their focus to Cambodia, who beat them last May 11, 79-68, in a match marred by a postgame commotion.
Former PBA import Lester Prosper, meanwhile, led Indonesia with 26 points and nine rebounds in their foiled back-to-back attempt.
Anthony Beane backed him up with 12 points for Timnas, who actually led by four, 74-70, with 4:08 to go until the sudden scoring drought.
Coach Milos Pejic’s wards fell to Gilas’ stifling defense led by Chris Ross and Marcio Lassiter, only scoring with only about 32 seconds left in the game courtesy of Dame Diagne, when everything was all but settled.
The best that the Indonesians can bring home is a bronze medal, which they’ll try to accomplish against the Thais on Tuesday.
The Scores:
Philippines (84) – Brownlee 34, Ganuelas-Rosser 13, Tolentino 10, Lassiter 9, Lastimosa 9, Newsome 4, Ross 2, Perez 2, Standhardinger 1, Phillips 0.
Indonesia (76) – Prosper 26, Beane 12, Prastawa 9, Jawato 8, Gemilang 6, Kokodiptura 3, Kosasih 2, Saputera 1, Arighi, Teja 0.
Quarterscores: 34-20, 45-38, 65-60, 84-76.
