Sinag beats Malaysia, completes SEA Games sweep to clinch gold
Sinag Pilipinas defeated Malaysia 84-56 to officially win the gold in the men's basketball division of the 27th SEA Games.
Bobby Ray Parks had his best game of the competitions as he scored 18 points on 7 of 9 shooting from the field. He only needed to play 15 minutes to score all of his points. Parks was backed by by gunner Kevin Alas who chipped in 13 points while Ateneo ace Kiefer Ravena scored 8.
After getting the sold and the sweep that they wanted, it was mission accomplished for Sinag Pilipinas, a group of guys who sacrificed a lot just to represent the country.
The Philippines actually did not need to win against Malaysia to win the gold. Thailand gave Sinag an easier path to the gold medal by defeating Malaysia Thursday afternoon. However, the Filipino players did not slack around.
Sinag surged ahead in the first quarter that ended with Philippines taking a 21-15 lead.
The Malaysians were able to keep the score close in the second quarter as they only went to the halftime break facing a nine point disadvantage, 34-43.
Similar to what they did in their last game against Indonesia, the Philippines made a run in the third quarter as they outscored Malaysia 25-15 to build a 19 point lead heading into the final quarter than all but insured their sweep of the competitions.
Meanwhile, Perlas Pilipinas stayed on course to duplicate its 2011 silver medal by whipping Indonesia, 54-43, to improve to 2-1 with only lowly Myanmar left in its schedule. A win over Myanmar tomorrow will ensure a silver medal finish for the PH cagebelles.
Quarters: 21-15, 43-34, 68-49, 84-56
Philippines (84) - Parks 18, Alas 13, Ravena 8, J. Pascual 8, Douthit 6, Sumang 6, Lanete 6, Cruz 5, Ferrer 5, Belo 4, R. Pascual 3, Ganuelas 2
Malaysia (56) - Ong 11, Choo 10, Kuek 10, Koh 9, Wong 4, Ooi, 4, Loh 3, Ng 3, Kwaan 2, Soo 0, Gan 0
