Gilas Women put up yet another masterclass to beat Singapore, 88-61, to move one win away from bagging home another gold in the 31st Southeast Asian Games cage tilt, Saturday at the Thanh Tri Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Camille Clarin provided the early spark, and the tested troika of Afril Bernardino, Angel Surada, and Janine Pontejos helped out to break the game wide open as the Filipina dribblers remained unscathed after four games.
The wards of coach Pat Aquino, who have now won by an average of 21.0 points, will now turn their attention to former back-to-back SEAG champions Malaysia on Sunday, May 22, at 10 a.m. in a bid to formally retain their title.
Clare Castro top-scored for Gilas with 15 points. Khate Castillo finished with 14 points on a 4-of-6 clip from beyond the arc, carrying over the rhythm she had last Thursday against the hosts that saw her rifle seven triples.
Pontejos fired 14 as well, spiked by a pair of treys, one of which pushed their lead to 31, 68-37, at the end of the third. She also had five steals.
Surada supplied 11 markers, seven rebounds, and a steal as all but one of the 12 cagers scored at least two points in the victory.
Bernardino, who averaged 16.7 points and 12.3 rebounds in their first three games, only had seven and eight. But she was nonetheless instrumental in the win, as she had an imprint in the Philippines’ 16-4 start into the match.
Gilas shot 43-percent from the floor, including a 12-of-31 clip from deep. It also won the rebounding battle by a huge margin, 47-33, and forced the opposition to commit 28 turnovers — and converted it to 33 points.
Meanwhile, Jacqueline Chu led Singapore with 16 points in the loss, their fourth in as many games. Amanda Lim backed her up with 13 markers.
The Scores:
Philippines (88) – Castro 15, Castillo 14, Pontejos 14, Surada 11, Bade 8, Bernardino 7, Clarin 6, Berberabe 5, Fajardo 3, Tongco 3, Cabinbin 2, Guytingco 0.
Singapore (61) – Chu 16, Lim 13, Chan 8, Lim 5, Ang 4, See 3, Han 3, Chin 3, Lim 2, Choong 2, Yeo 2, Poon 0.
Quarterscores: 18-6, 40-21, 68-37, 88-61.
