PHNOM PENH - Justin Brownlee came alive in the final minutes as Gilas Pilipinas scored a vengeful 84-76 win over Indonesia on Monday to advance to the men's basketball finals of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games.
READ: Cambodia holds off Thailand to reach gold-medal game
The Filipinos played catch-up for most of the semifinal against the reigning champions until Brownlee hit a basket and a pair of three-pointers and assisted on a Brandon Ganuelas Rosser three-point play to put Gilas on top, 80-74 win 1:39 to go.
The win against the team that deprived the Philippines of gold in Hanoi last year set Gilas up for a grudge match against Cambodia - the team that dealt the Filipinos a 79-68 beating in their group-stage game four days ago.
The final is set on Tuesday at 4 p.m. (Manila time).
The hosts, powered by a phalanx of naturalized players, reached a SEA Gams men's basketball final for the first time by holding off Thailand, 76-66.
Against Indonesia, the Nationals trailed by as many as 11 points and were still behind, 74-70, with 4:10 to play until they finally showed signs of life behind Rosser, Marcio Lassiter, and Brownlee who helped Gilas catch up at 50-all.
Brownlee topscored for 34 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the three-point region, and had nine rebounds and five assists.
Ganuelas-Rosser also had a big game for Gilas with 13 points including a completed three-point play that made it an 81-74 lead for Gilas with 1:39 to play.
Arvin Tolentino was the other player to finish in double figures for Gilas with 10 points.
Naturalized player Lester Prosper, who played as import for Terrafirma in the PBA, struck fear in the hearts of the Filipinos after leading Indonesia with 26 points on a near-perfect 10-of-11 shooting from the field.
Prosper also shot 4-of-5 from downtown and already had 21 points at halftime which Indonesia led, 45-38.
The scores:
Philippines (84) - Brownlee 34, Ganuelas-Rosser 13, Tolentino 10, Lassiter 9, Lastimosa 9, Newsome 4, Perez 2, Ross 2, Standhardinger 1, Philips 0, Mason 0.
Indonesia (76) - Prosper 26, Beane 12, Diagne 9, Dhyaksa 9, Jawato 8, Gemilang 6, Kokodiputra 6, Kosasih 2, Saputra 1, Teja 0, Noor 0.
Halftime: 38-45
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