U18 stomps all over Laos in SEABA opener

The Under-18 National team breezed through their Laotian counterparts on Wednesday, 124-28, in their first game in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championships at the Singapore Basketball Center. The Nationals, the tournament’s defending champions, ran a clinic against their opponents, out-rebounding them 69-19, including on 25 of their own misses. They converted those second-chance opportunities too, totaling 28 points on offensive rebounds. La Salle Greenies standout Mario Bonleon led the team with 24 points on an 11-for-18 clip. Big men RR De Leon and Kent Lao had 16 points apiece, with the latter also notching a double-double with 15 rebounds. Letran Squire Rey Mambatac added 17 points, while NU Bulldogs recruit JJ Alejandro also chipped in 12 markers. Early in the game, the U-18 team got several second chance opportunities that resulted in a 12-3 scoring tear, powered by eight points from Lao, who also plays for the University of Santo Tomas Growling Tigers. Phimmasone Phannolath was the lone player to score for the Laotians early on, making one from deep as they were limited to outside attempts. Coach Olsen Racela flexed his rotation early, substituting his entire first unit with less than three minutes to play. None of his wards would see more than 22 minutes of action in the game, though it mattered little who was on the floor; the Nationals preyed on the Laotians’ poor execution on offense, scoring 19 points off turnovers alone to boast of a 34-10 first quarter advantage. Lao in fact, ended the first period with 12 points, outscoring the entire Laos team by himself. In the second period, De Leon, a forward for the University of the East Red Warriors, scored from the right block, combining with Bonleon for seven markers in an 11-0 run for the youth team. The Nationals held the Laotians to a single field in the quarter while piling on the points, tallying an insurmountable 64-12 lead at the halftime mark. With the final result clearly etched in stone, the Nationals still played suffocating defense, preventing Laos from scoring in double-digits in a quarter again. The Philippines will face the Singaporean squad on Thursday, the Malaysians on Friday and finally the Indonesians on Sunday, completing a single round-robin. The two best teams will qualify for berths to the FIBA-Asia tourney to be held in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, in August. - AMD, GMA News The scores: PHL 124 - Bonleon 24, Nambatac 17, De Leon 16, Lao 16, Suarez 12, Alejandro 12, Rivero 12, Javelosa 6, Go 6, Olayon 4, Cani 2 LAOS 28 - Phommasone 10, Phannolath 8, Sengthong 3, Champakeo 3, Phengnalath 2, Sengsouliya 2, Labouaphieng 0, Maydaphone 0, Vongmeleuth 0 Quarter scoring: 34-10, 64-12, 93-19, 124-28