GILAS Pilipinas women sealed their silver-medal finish in the women’s basketball tournament of the 32nd Southeast Asian Games after beating Malaysia, 77-63, at the Morodok Techo Stadium in Phnom Penh on Monday.
Gilas Pilipinas Women vs Malaysia recap
Owing to the round-robin format of the women’s tournament, Gilas and Malaysia figured in a virtual battle for silver in their final match of the tournament as they entered with identical records.
Janine Pontejos finished with 24 points and swished three triples in the process to lead Gilas women. She also had three rebounds, two assists, and two steals.
The Gilas women finished with a 5-1 record in the tournament while gold medalists Indonesia swept the meet at 6-0.
Though falling short of their three-peat gold medal bid, Gilas women adds to Team Philippines’ haul with their silvers in the 3x3 and 5-on-5 tournaments.
In a game that saw the linoleum court needing to be fixed at halftime, the Gilas women relied on their defense late as the Malaysians halved the lead to 11, 69-58, late in the fourth salvo.
But a quick 6-0 run restored breathing space for the Nationals, punctuated by a Khate Castillo triple to extend the lead back to 17, 75-58, with 2:06 ticks left in the ball game.
It was a wire-to-wire victory for the Philippines as they led by as many as 22 points.
Castillo provided the scoring off of the bench with 18 points in 17 minutes of action.
Camille Clarin chipped in nine markers while Jack Animam added six points, 13 rebounds, two assists, and one steal.
Hui Pin Pang paced Malaysia in a losing effort with 15 points.
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