THE Energen Pilipinas youth team earned a trip to the Fiba-Asia Under-18 championships after defeating Malaysia, 84-65, in the penultimate day of the Seaba Under-18 tournament Friday in Singapore.
The win was the third straight for the unbeaten Nationals, who will finish the meet no worse than second place and enough to book a berth in the Fiba-Asia tournament set in August in Ulan Bator, Mongolia.
The top three teams in the Seaba meet will advance to Mongolia.
The Philippine team guns for the title Saturday afternoon against Indonesia, aiming to earn the bragging rights as still the best in Southeast Asia.
The Indonesians also remained undefeated after three games with a 78-31 win over Laos in Friday’s first outing.
The Nationals held a slim 43-42 lead against the Malaysians at the half, but went on a 21-11 run in the first seven minutes of the third period to pull away for good, 64-53.
The Filipino cagers opened the tournament with a 124-28 win over Laos, before beating host Singapore Thursday, 75-63.
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