Gilas survives pesky Vietnam, bags semis berth

BANGKOK — Gilas Pilipinas survived the upset axe wielded by a vastly-improved Vietnam side, scoring a 78-67 win to secure a semifinals berth in the men’s basketball competition of the 33rd Southeast Asian Games on Monday here.

Robert Bolick scored 10 of his 13 points in the fourth quarter, highlighted by back-to-back triples, that helped Gilas create separation from the pesky Vietnamese side and seal top spot in Group A with a 2-0 record at the Nimibutr Stadium.

“It was a hard-earned win,” said coach Norman Black, whose charges rallied from a 14-point deficit in the second quarter. “It was a difficult game for us and the Vietnamese team played as well as they did.

“We struggled again defensively, and it is something that we have to fix in the next couple of days in practice,” added Black, whose team will face either Vietnam, which placed third in Group A at 0-2, or the second placer in Group B.

The group winners advance to the semis while the second and third placers meet in a crossover quarterfinals to determine the two other seats in the final four.

Group B is composed of host Thailand, on top at 2-0, Indonesia (1-1), Singapore (1-1) and Myanmar (0-2). Thailand was facing Myanmar while Singapore and Indonesia were squaring off at press time.

Malaysia, which Gilas defeated by way of an 83-58 rout the previous day, placed second in Group A at 1-1 while Vietnam dropped all two matches after coming so close to scoring a huge upset over the Philippine squad.

“I watched the game between the Philippines and Malaysia, but it was more about knowing the players and knowing their plays,” said Vietnam’s American coach Matt Van Pelt. “So we had a scouting report, showing the guys on film of all 12 players.

“Once we knew the players, it was more about just focusing on the things we need to do better,” added Van Pelt, whose team fell to Malaysia, 89-63, on Saturday.

Bolick made two triples followed by one three from Poy Erram during a stretch which allowed Gilas to turn a 62-61 deficit, 7:58 left into a 70-62 lead, time down to 3:07 in the contest.

Erram topscored with 15 points on top of five rebounds, Matthew Wright was consistent through offensively to add 14 points on 5-of-11 shooting while Jamie Malonzo added 10 points and eight rebounds.

Bolick was scoreless during the first half that saw Vietnam impose a world of trouble for the Philippines behind 6-foot guard Khoa Tran and 6-foot-8 center Huynh Phu Vinh Nguyen, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds.

Tran, who also scored 19, knocked down all of his three triples in the second quarter that saw Vietnam take a 41-27 lead with 2:43 left in the second quarter. (MCO-EM)