Gilas thrash Indonesia in SEABA caging, secure FIBA-Asia slot

Pilipinas-Smart Gilas booked a spot in the 26th FIBA Asia Championship by dumping Indonesia, 94-54, Friday night in the 9th Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) men's championship at the BritAma Arena Sports Mall in Jakarta, Indonesia. Gilas used a big first quarter blitz to cruise to the lopsided win, scoring 15 unanswered points with Chris Lutz and Marcus Douthit combining for nine in that run after the Indonesians led, 5-3, on a Cristian Ronald Setepin triple. With the win, the Nationals clinched one of the three seats for Southeast Asia in the FIBA Asia Championship, a 2012 London Olympic qualifier, set September 15-25 in Wuhan, China. Gilas also booked a finals spot in the SEABA tournament as it will finish the round robin eliminations against Singapore Saturday. Malaysia will face Indonesia with the winner facing the Philippines in Sunday's finals. Lutz led the way with 20 points on 14-of-15 from the free throw line while Japeth Aguilar had 19 points on 9-of-11 shooting from the field. Dylan Ababou had 13 points while Douthit had 11 points and four blocks. The Nationals only shot 4-of-13 from the three-point range but went 30-of-54 (56 percent) from the two-point field goal. — Reuben Terrado/JVP, GMA News