U18 fends off Singapore, goes up to 2-0

While it wasn’t on the level of their run-away win against Laos, the National Under-18 squad still did more than enough to hold off host country Singapore, 75-63 on Thursday evening, as the 8th South East Asian Basketball Association Championship tournament continued at the Singapore Basketball Center. National University recruit JJ Alejandro III led the team with 13 points, Letran Squire Rey Mambatac added 12 points and five rebounds, and University of Santo Tomas Growling Tiger Kent Lao notched 10 points on 10 attempts. The Nationals displayed the same strengths they showed in their 124-28 beatdown against the Laotians, outscoring the Singaporeans in the paint, 44-10, and in transition, 20-2. The easy points offset a miserable 3-for-17 clip by the team from beyond the arc, with two of those long bombs coming from Alejandro. Delvin Goh led Singapore with 17 points, seven rebounds and five assists on 6-for-10 shooting. Tay Ding Loon added 15 markers, while Jun Rong Thng had 13 points and five rebounds. The Philippines was on fire to begin the game, forcing the Singaporeans into turnovers that resulted into a 10-nil run. But their opponents caught fire with under five minutes in the quarter as Thng and Goh combined to put up 13 markers for the Singaporeans, to trim the deficit to 16-13 after the period. In the second quarter, the Philippines responded with an 8-1 run, scoring six of those in transition, to gain a 24-14 advantage midway through the period. The Singaporeans countered with a 12-4 run, propped up by a pair of treys from Chee Khan Liang and Thng to bring the score to 28-26. By the end of the half though, the Philippines still stood tall, extending their advantage to 35-30. Alejandro opened the third period with five straight points to lead the Philippines in a 12-2 barrage. The Nationals built their largest lead of the game off another basket by Alejandro, 50-38, but John Ng countered for Singapore with a trey and scored five more points, including another triple, bolstering a 14-5 burst by the host team that found themselves trailed by just a triple once more, 55-52, heading into the final frame. It was Lao’s turn to take up the cudgels in the fourth, spearheading an 11-3 burst with six points that brought their tally to 66-56 with a shade under five minutes left in the game. Singapore tried to rally behind a pair of baskets from Goh and Tay, but University of the East Red Warrior Mark Olayon scored in transition, and Reedley School’s Jay Javelosa , plus Alejandro, scored the team’s last seven points to help preserve the win for the National team. The victory boosted the Philippine team to 2-0 in the standings. They face the Malaysians on Friday and the Indonesians on Saturday, completing four games in as many days. - AMD, GMA News The scores: Philippines 75: Alejandro 13, Nambatac 12, Lao 10, Javelosa 8, Cani 7, Rivero 6, Olayon 5, Morada 5, De Leon 5, Bonleon 4, Suarez 0 Singapore 63: Goh 17, Tay 15, Thng 13, Ng 8, Toh 5, Chee 3, Tan 2, Wong 0, Low 0, Chun 0, Chan 0, Ang 0 Quarter scores: 16-13, 35-30, 55-52, 75-63