Gilas romp over Thais for cage gold

As expected, Gilas Pilipinas handily beat Thailand, 115-81 to clinch the gold in the 30th Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball at the Mall of Asia Arena.

June Mar Fajardo put up a strong double-double perfromance for Gilas with 17 points and 13 rebounds, while LA Tenorio and Christian Standhardinger finished with 16 points a piece.

Matthew Wright and Vic Manuel scored 14 points each.

The Nationals swept the tournament in dominating fashion, averaging 113.6 points per game as a team while holding off their opponents to only 69 points per game.

Thailand put up a good fight in the first half, only trailing 39-48 going into the second half.

But Gilas pulled away as usual in the third quarter, with Chris Ross sparking a 20-3 run to give the nationals an 88-54 lead going into the final quarter.

Gilas Pilipinas continued to expand their lead in the fourth and with 4:47 left in the game, Vic Manuel put up their biggest lead at 39, 104-65.

Gilas Pilipinas never looked back from there.