SEABA: RP cagers whip Singaporeans, 122-55

The San Miguel Beer-RP team gave Singapore a severe beating on the hardcourt — winning 122-55 — at the Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) Men's Championship, which started Friday in Ratchaburi, Thailand. According to updates posted at www.asia-basket.com, Singapore has always been "easy prey" to the RP team. In the 2003 Southeast Asian Games in Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam, the Nationals beat the Singaporeans, 97-56. At this year's SEABA, Singapore also lost its first game, against Thailand, with a score of 75-50. Singapore's next opponent, in Saturday's game, is defending champion Malaysia, which aims to win its last two games if it wants to get one of the two slots for the FIBA Asia Men's Championship to be held in Japan. The Japan tournament, to be held July 28 to August 5, is the qualifying stage for the 2008 Beijing Olympics. The RP team has had a good track record, winning the SEABA crown from 1998 to 2003. After Malaysia beat Thailand in Segamat in the maiden SEABA tournament in 1994, a three-year break followed before Manila hosted the next three editions — defeating Thailand 90-69 in 1998, Singapore 74-66 in 1999, and the Thais 96-81 in 2001. The Filipinos made it four in a row by dealing Malaysia a 96-81 loss in Kuala Lumpur in 2003. With the Philippines under suspension in 2005, Malaysia went on to clobber Indonesia, 98-47, in the final game. Amateur players had been in the forefront of previous RP team endeavors in the SEABA, and Ratchaburi will see the involvement of professional stars for the first time. This also marks the return of an all-PBA squad to the international scene, three years after the suspension order handed down by the Federation International de Basketball (FIBA). The SMB-RP team drew a bye on Thursday but takes on Indonesia on the 26th, Malaysia on the 27th, and Thailand on the 28th, with the top two finishers going to Tokushima. - GMANews.TV