FILIPINO-Chinese Veterans Basketball Association (FCVBA) lost its grip in the Asean Basketball Veterans Tournament after its fancied 60-and-under team suffered its worst defeat in years in Hat Yai, Thailand.
Showing none of the brilliance that enabled them to win their first four games with an average winning margin of 17.25 points, the 60s absorbed a crushing 86-69 defeat to the Pontianak Meteors (Indonesia) Friday at the Prince Songkla University gym here.
After a tight first half action, the Indons started to pull away from the misfiring FCVBA dribblers after coming through with a decisive run midway in the third quarter.
The Indons, who played only two games in the elims, then took a sizable 64-47 lead going into the payoff period after outscoring the FCVBA dribblers, 21-11, that proved too deep a hole for them to snake out.
The 65s, also backed by Rain or Shine’s Terry Que, Freego’s Eduard Tio and Ironcon Buikders’ Jimi Lim, consoled themselves by repeating over Miri of Malaysia, 47-37, to finish third – thanks to the stellar showing of Conrad Siy, Bong dela Cruz, James Chua, and Achit Kaw.
It did not help that FCVBA missed so many free throws – even former Philippine team star Elmer Reyes struggled offensively as fatigue finally caught up with him
Like Reyes, ex-La Salle star Kenneth Yap, Danny Ching, Aries Franco and Elmer Latonio also fared badly.
In sharp contrast, the Indons shot respectably from the field aside from moving the ball pretty well to spoil FCVBA’s bid for a four-peat.
This marked the second time since the association was born in 2009 that FCVBA will be going home almost empty-handed – the first was four years ago in Bangkok when they also settled for runner-up finishes in the 40-and-above and 50-and above divisions.
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