By JAY R. GOTERA
MANILA — As expected, the Gilas Pilipinas national men’s basketball team had no trouble at all in demolishing Myanmar by 107 points, 147-40, as the 2017 SEABA men's championship opened Friday at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Gilas started the game with a 17-0 run and continued pounding Myanmar until the final buzzer sounded. It was Myanmar’s first SEABA appearance in more than two decades.
All 12 players fielded by coach Chot Reyes scored, with nine of them in double digits led by Calvin Abueva with 22 points. The player they called “The Beast” also collected six rebounds, four assists and five steals.
Allein Maliksi punched in 20 markers and five boards. RR Pogoy drilled 17 markers, 11 of them in the first quarter.
June Mar Fajardo posted 14 points and six boards, while Jio Jalalon had a double-double 13 points and 10 assists.
Matthew Wright added 12 points while Japeth Aguilar and Andray Blatche chipped in 11 apiece.
Gilas led by 54 points, 66-12, at halftime. A basket by Pogoy with less than 3 minutes left gave the Filipinos a 100-point lead.
Gilas shot a respectable 64 percent from the field, including 11 three-pointers. They also collected 25 steals and 12 blocks.
Myanmar was led by Aung Wana, who tallied 12 points including two three-pointers. Myanmar had 38 turnovers and had only 8 assists for the entire game.
The Philippines seeks to sweep the competition to qualify for the FIBA Asia Cup in August and the Asian Qualifiers by November. The team with the best record will win this tournament.
Indonesia 71, Singapore 50
Indonesia affirmed its reputation as the top challenger to Gilas Pilipinas as it trounced Singapore, 71-50.
Even without naturalized player Jamarr Johnson, the Indonesians pounded the Singaporeans with their three-point bombs to pull away early.
Mario Wuysang led Indonesia with 20 points, 17 of them scored in the first half, which Indonesia took, 40-11.
Singapore was led by Larry Liew’s 11 points.
Thailand 74, Malaysia 67
Thailand came from behind to whip Malaysia, 74-67, in the first game of the SEABA championship.
Down by 12 points early in the second quarter, the Thais turned on the heat in the third, outscoring the Malaysians, 19-8, to turn the game around.
Chitchai Ananti paced Thailand with 24 points, 14 of them scored on free throws. He also had eight boards, and three assists before limping out with a leg injury after he collected with a Malaysian player late in the game.
Games Saturday: Vietnam (0-0) vs. Thailand (1-0); Indonesia (1-0) vs. Malaysia (0-1); and Philippines (1-0) vs. Singapore (0-1).
