HANOI. – Center June Mar Fajardo spelled the difference Monday as Gilas Pilipinas turned back a gritty Thailand side, scoring a 76-73 win as regular basketball in the 31st Southeast Asian Games got going at the Thanh Tri Gymnasium here.
Fajardo scored 28 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to help the Philippines overcome a determined Thai attack that gave the country’s perennial rivals a 10-point lead early in the game, before holding ground in the end game.
After misses from the foul line, Naikorn Jaisanuk missed a corner three at the buzzer that would have sent the game into overtime.
Banking on defense and a big third quarter surge, the Philippine women’s basketball team earlier started its quest for a second Southeast Asian Games gold medal with a 93-77 victory over Indonesia.
Gilas trailed 21-11 but rallied and posted a 38-34 halftime lead. Fajardo drained a jumper with 1:07 left in the game for a 75-68 lead but the Filipino cagers still couldn’t put the Thais away, a part of it on their own doing.
Thirdy Ravena missed two free throws and his older brother Kiefer split two foul shots with 6.7 seconds, enabling Thailand to get an opportunity to tie the game with a three.
Head coach Chot Reyes knew that Thailand would put up a tough challenge, having three players with American heritage in Moses Morgan, Fred Lish, Jeremy Morgan, and Antonio Price Soonthornchote, who topscored with 18 points.
“This was really the team that I was worried about,” Reyes said. “We are playing four Americans and we knew that this is a high-quality team. I don’t want to say that I expected it but I knew that there is a possibility that that start would happen.
“We just talked among ourselves to make sure that we don’t panic and we stick to our game plan. In the end, our experience just came through. But like I said, our postgame talk was all about the need to just get better,” said Reyes.
Thirdy Ravena finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and three assists for Gilas.
Gilas faces Cambodia (Tuesday) at 5 p.m. Hanoi time, 6 p.m. Philippine time.
After a close first half, the Gilas Women went on a 32-19 tear in the third and pulled away, going into the fourth with a 72-57 lead en route to the rousing win.
Using their quickness to the hilt, the Gilas Women collected 18 steals, drawing praise from coach Patrick Aquino.
“They played so hard. What can I ask for,” said Aquino. “That’s what we’ve been working on for the last couple of months. Hopefully, we can sustain that.
