WATCH: Gilas Pilipinas vs Singapore Game Highlights [2023 SEA Games | May 13, 2023]
Gilas Pilipinas recovered from a shock 11-point loss to host Cambodia by thrashing Singapore, 105-45, Saturday at the Elephant Hall 2 of the Morodok Techno National Stadium in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
The 60-point victory gave the Filipinos a 2-1 record in Group A and a seat in the semifinal round of the Men’s 5×5 Basketball competition, which is scheduled on Monday, May 15 at the same venue.
Gilas will face the winner of the crucial match between Indonesia and Thailand on Sunday. The two teams are currently on top of Group B with identical 2-0 records.
Justin Brownlee and CJ Perez combined for 11 points in a 21-0 opening run which set the tone for the entire match. The team shot an impeccable 76% (32-of-42) from 2-point range and 31% (10-of-32) from beyond the arc.
“This is basically our final practice for the semifinal game,” said Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes.
“We can’t really go hard in practice. This was our preparatory practice. We wanted to already hurdle some of the things that we might need against whoever our opponent is,” he added.
Marcio Lassiter paced the team with 16 points while SMB teammate Perez finished with 13. Brownlee, Jerom Lastimosa and Michael Phillips scored 12 points apiece while Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser and Arvin Tolentino dropped 10 and 9 markers, respectively.