Basketball
SMART-Gilas cruises to win over Singapore in FIBA Asia Cup qualifiers
AFP/Liu Jin
The SMART-Gilas Pilipinas national team did its work early and cruised to an easy 96-58 win over Singapore in the SEABA qualifying tournament for the FIBA Asia Cup in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
Behind SMART-Gilas holdovers Marcus Douthit and Chris Tiu, the Filipinos outscored their opponents by 10 in the opening period and by 15 in the second as they entered the halftime break with a whopping 45-20 lead.
Douthit scored 12 of his game-high 21 points in the first half while Tiu scored nine points in the first two periods.
Singapore put up a stiffer challenge in the third, managing to be outscored by just three in the period before Tiu drained a triple with just 22 seconds left in the quarter.
The final period was a mere formality with Douthit and PBA stars LA Tenorio and Sonny Thoss all sitting out with the game clearly in hand.
Tiu finished with 18 points in the game while Tenorio and Garvo Lanete scored 11 each. Thoss scored nine points in less than 13 minutes on the floor.
Singapore was led by Mitchell Folkoff, who had 12 points.
SMART-Gilas dominated scoring inside, with a 54-20 edge and scored 19 points off Singapore’s turnovers, compared to just two for their oppenents.
Up next for the Philippines is Indonesia, who dropped their opening assignment against Malaysia, 50-70.
The scores:
SMART-Gilas Pilipinas – Douthit 21, Tiu 18, Tenorio 11, Lanete 11, Thoss 9, Baracael 7, Marcelo 6, Hermida 6, Ramos 4, Monfort 3, Co 0.
Singapore – Folkoff 12, Ng 10, Oh 9, Khoo 8, Teo 7, Lim 6, Wong 2, Koh 2, Matialakan 2, Goh 0, Wu 0, Liew 0.
Quarterscores: 22-12, 45-20, 74-43, 96-58.
