Young PHL team bags SEA Games basketball gold

JAKARTA— The PHL men’s team called Sinag Pilipinas completed its domination of the basketball tournament of the 26th Southeast Asian Games, trouncing Thailand, 85-57, in Sunday night’s gold-medal match that from the start was virtually in the bag for a country that adores basketball. Greg Slaughter played his seven-foot frame to the hilt and top-scored for Sinag Pilipinas with 16 points to go with eight decisive rebounds. RR Garcia, the FEU spitfire and a former UAAP MVP, had 12 in the match that underscored the Philippines’ supremacy in the region. Last UAAP season's top rookies, Bobby Ray Parks and Kiefer Ravena, had 15 and 10 points, respectively. “This means a lot to us, not just for me but the whole team," said Norman Black, who added a SEA Games gold medal to his already illustrious coaching career that includes a PBA grand slam and a four-peat in the UAAP. It looked like the entire Filipino community in Jakarta came to witness the trouncing at the Britana Arena, which was expected of a team that was rarely threatened—momentarily by Malaysia in the semifinals—in these Games. The crowd was even sprinkled with young Indonesian ladies who came to see their "handsome" Filipino basketball idols. But at the end of the day Sunday, the victory represented just one medal. The target for the country's sports officials was 70 gold medals and a better-than-fifth finish, but with two days to go in the Games, the Philippines remained stuck in sixth place, way off its goal with a haul of 49 gold, 44 silver and 66 bronze medals. Indonesia was on its way to partying at home with an unreachable 143-116-107, gold-silver-bronze tally, followed by Thailand with 88-77-98 and Vietnam with 80-79-84. Malaysia was fourth with 49-44-66 and Singapore with 39-41-71. Myanmar, which will host the Games for the first time in 2013, was seventh (10-21-27), Laos eighth (3-11-20), Cambodia ninth (3-11-20) and Timor Leste 10th (1-1-4). Yet for Black and his wards, the gold medal was worth savoring, perhaps until the next Games. “What’s amazing about this team is it’s a young team. It shows we have a bright future," said Black, who like all of his wards, was a first-timer in the SEA Games. - OMG/HS, GMA News Scoreboard: Philippines (85) – Slaughter 16, Parks 15, Ryan Garcia 12, Ravena 10, Monfort 8, Tiu 6, Hodge 5, Pascual 5, Salva 2, Lanete 2, Ellis 0. Thailand (57) – Kaedum 17, Letmaliporn 11, Sangthong 11, Kongkum 8, Apiromvilaichai 6, ghogar 2, Klahan 2, Kruatiwa 0, Jantuma Mana 0. Quarters: 21-17, 44-25, 61-42, 85-57