PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Gilas Pilipinas Women suffered a major setback in its bid for a third straight basketball gold in the Southeast Asian Games with a 68-89 loss to Indonesia on Friday at the Morodok Techo Elephant Hall 2.
Indonesia waxed hot from the outside in the third to pick up a 4-0 record while sending Gilas Women to a 2-1 record.
See Coach Chot not making excuses as Gilas struggles in Cambodia
The loss meant that a three-peat for Gilas Women out of their hands.
Indonesia only needs to sweep its remaining two games in order to win the gold with the tournament being a round-robin format and the No. 1 team at the end of the eliminations taking the crown.
Gilas lost the lead despite a 37-35 advantage at halftime. Indonesia outscored the Philippines in the third thanks to their three-point shooting and led, 63-49, entering the fourth.
For them to have a shot at the gold, Indonesia must lose to Cambodia and Singapore in their final two games. Cambodia defeated Singapore, 83-63, in a battle of winless teams on Friday.
Yuni Anggraeni had 24 points, while Kimberley Pierre Louis had 20 points, 15 rebounds, and three blocks for Indonesia.
Compounding to the woes of Gilas is the loss of Afril Bernardino, who was taken out of the game due to a bloody nose.
“It’s a hard loss,” said Gilas coach Pat Aquino. “It’s (Indonesia) a tough team. They’ve been together for almost three years. But the best thing is that the girls never gave up. That’s how you fight adversity and be ready for the next battle.”
“I told them to never give up. We still have three more games. We’ll never know what will happen,” said Aquino.
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