By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The Gilas Pilipinas men’s national basketball team escaped a resilient performance from Thailand and kicked off their 2022 Southeast Asian games title defense with a narrow 76-73 victory.
It was the Thais who controlled the early tempo of the game after shooting the lights out while penetrating through the PH defense at will.
Antonio Price had a strong first quarter, taking advantage of every matchup he faced while courageously driving against the towering interior defense of the PH led by June Mar Fajardo and Troy Rosario.
Thailand’s blazing start gave them an early 10-point advantage, 21-11, and looked to blow the game wide open in the first quarter which forced head coach Chot Reyes to call a timeout.
However, the Gilas squad was quick to recover, thanks to the ever-dominant Fajardo who willed his way in the shaded area and started to operate down the block in the second quarter.
Fajardo’s assault helped Gilas recover in the second half and outscored Thailand, 25-13, and regained the lead 38-34 heading into the half.
San Miguel Beermen’s big man continued to impose his will down low until the second half and ballooned the Gilas lead to 12 after five minutes of offensive display.
Thirdy and Kiefer Ravena then backstopped Fajardo with the much-needed 1-2 punch and ran the Reyes plays to perfection to keep their lead heading into the final canto.
The older Ravena embraced his court general role and dimed the ball several times to the rolling Fajardo while Thirdy knocked down the wide-open treys generated from their signature dribble drive offense.
In the fourth, Thailand came roaring back with their hot-shooting and second-chance effort to turn the game into a nip-and-tuck affair after veterans Jaisanuk and Moses Morgan found their shooting stroke.
The once double-digit lead by Gilas was again erased to single digits in the last three minutes of the ball game.
With seven seconds left in the ball game, Kiefer was fouled and split his free throws to give Gilas a 76-73 lead.
Thailand immediately grabbed the defensive board, pushed the pace, and found a trailing Jaisanuk in the right-wing but unfortunately missed the three-point attempt that would’ve forced overtime.
Fajardo led Gilas with 28 points and 12 rebounds while Thirdy contributed 17 points and six rebounds for their first 2022 SEAG victory.
