Gilas foils Thais, keeps SEAG gold

BANGKOK, Thailand — Gilas Pilipinas continued its reign as the region’s basketball king.

Robert Bolick calmly sank two insurance free throws in the last 8.1 seconds to quell Thailand’s late uprising and seal a 70-64 win in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games 5-on-5 basketball final Friday night at the packed Nimibutr Stadium here.

Gilas had some anxious moments when the Thais trimmed the Filipinos’ 10-point lead to 68-64 with 47.8 seconds remaining after Naikorn Jaisinuk sank three free throws off a foul from Thirdy Ravena.

The Filipinos fumbled their possession and Thailand got a chance to draw closer when Frederick Lish drew a foul.

But Lish crumbled under tremendous pressure and missed both his free throws.

Bolick was sent to the line to ice the game and give the Philippines its second straight crown and 20th overall title as well as the gold medals that the basketball-loving Filipinos consider to be the most important in any edition of the biennial meet.

Jamie Malonzo led Gilas with a double-double of 17 points and 12 rebounds to go with five steals and three assists while Bolick scored 10 markers.

Gilas completed a sweep of 5-on-5 basketball following the conquest of the women’s squad early in the day. 

Gilas actually had a sluggish start and trailed by as many as 13 after going down a 19-32 hole early in the second quarter.

The Norman Black-mentored squad recovered in the second half and turned the tables around with a telling 8-2 run for a 67-55 lead with three minutes left.

Thailand tried to make a furious rally but ultimately came up short.

Chanatip Jakrawan and Emannuel Ejesu led the Thais with 13 points each.

Indonesia took bronze after beating Malaysia, 80-68.