The Philippines doomed their opponents as early as the first quarter, forging a 13-point lead that the Indonesians never recovered from.
Alaska Ace Mac Baracael posted a game-high 15 points, followed by 14 points from former Red Lion Garvo Lanete. The big man combo of fellow San Beda alum Dave Marcelo and naturalized center Marcus Douthit combined for 24 points and 13 rebounds. Chris Tiu rounded out a balanced effort from the Nationals with 13 markers of his own.
Gilas again outscored their opponents in the paint, 38-22, and ran them into the ground on the break, tallying 14 points in the open court while limiting Indonesia to two.
Early in the game, the Philippines kept Indonesia out of the paint, forcing Christian Sitepu to score on two long jumpers as Douthit and Baracael took turns on scoring duty for a 10-4 lead. Arki Wisnu hit Indonesia’s first basket in the paint, but Lanete drained a left wing trey on the next possession, followed by an and-one play from Tiu, as the Philippines raced to an early 21-8 advantage.
Gilas opened the second quarter with another trey, this time from Tiu, who scored seven in an 11-2 run, despite the team missing several attempts at the rim, to bring the tally to 32-10. However, Indonesia came back as Faisal Ahmad made two of his team’s three makes from deep in the last four minutes of the period and trimmed the deficit to 41-25, heading into the halftime break.
Douthit scored seven of the team’s last nine in the first half, shrugging off foul trouble to post 11 points after two quarters.
Lanete erupted after the break, carrying Gilas through a 9-3 burst that forced Indonesia to call timeout with under seven minutes in the quarter. It was but a speed bump for the Philippines as Douthit promptly slammed another one home when play resumed.
This time it was Baracael who waxed hot for the Nationals, notching five of Gilas’ last nine in the third. Ahmad and company managed to score again in the back half of the frame, but never seriously threatened the lead which ballooned to 59-37 heading into the game’s final ten minutes.
Indonesia would score five quick points early in the final period, but the Philippines quickly re-established their dominance in the game. A pair of charities by Woody Co then gave the Nationals a 30-point lead with three minutes left to play.
The Philippines will play Malaysia on Friday before wrapping up the tournament with their matchup against Thailand on Saturday.
