Gilas Pilipinas’ bid of bringing the Southeast Asian Games 3×3 gold medal back home got stalled again after suffering a 20-15 loss to Cambodia in the men’s final, Sunday at the Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh.
While they managed to overcome Thailand’s size and speed in the semis, the same could not be said against the host nation as the spent crew struggled to contain mainly the 1-2 punch of Brandon Peterson and Sayeed Pridgett.
It couldn’t be any more painful for the Philippine team to lose after sweeping their way into the Last Dance — they swept Saturday’s pool play (3-0) before downing their traditional regional rivals in the penultimate phase.
They settled for silver following the stinging defeat, still an improvement after salvaging a bronze finish in last year’s meet in Vietnam.
No Gilas 3×3 team will go back home with the gold following the result. The women’s team bowed to Vietnam in a tight finale earlier, 21-16.
Almond Vosotros led PBA 3×3-backed squad with six points. Joseph Sedurifa supplied four markers apiece while Joseph Eriobu added one point.
The unlikely hero in their conquest of the Thais, Sedurifa actually put Gilas up 6-4 in the early goings of the winner-take-all title bout, until Peterson and Darrin Dorsey began buckling down to work for the Cambodians.
Former teammates with Orthodox Amman in Jordan, the two spearheaded a 7-0 run to take an 11-6 lead approaching the seven-minute mark.
The TNT tandem of Vosotros and Flores kept the team in the thick of the battle but momentum shifted to the home team and couldn’t be stopped, with Pridgett coming through for a 15-10 lead with 4:10 left to play.
Sedurifa tried to spearhead one last run by getting the Filipino dribblers to within just two, 17-15, but Pridgett no longer let the game slip away as he delivered the final blows that sent the Philippines down to the ground.
It is Cambodia’s first-ever men’s 3×3 gold, a feat that should serve as an extra push to the 5-on-5 team where the aforementioned three could play as well.
Thailand, meanwhile, settled for bronze after beating Vietnam, 21-13, in a rematch of last year’s gold medal game.
