Nokia 5 bucks jitters, smothers Malaysians

Yangon, Myanmar – The Nokia-Pilipinas demolished Malaysia, 87-59, for an auspicious start in the SEABA Under 18 men’s basketball championship at the Thuwonna Stadium here.

But the Filipinos, three of them scoring in double-digits, had to overcome a jittery start and the Malaysians’ gritty stand in the first two quarters, then turned on the heat in the third quarter to win pulling away.

“The boys were jittery in the early part, but they were able to establish their defense in the third (quarter) and that I think was the key,” said coach Eric Altamirano, getting handshakes from a number of Filipinos that included the Philippines’ ambassador to Myanmar Ma. Hellen Barber and her staff.

Altamirano nevertheless lauded the Malaysians’ stand in the first two quarters when they managed to keep a close contest.

The Filipinos actually led in the first quarter, 18-13, but the Malaysians just kept coming back in the game.

At the end of the day however, the Filipinos’ swarming defense prevailed, even enabling them to come out with an awesome offensive in the third where they turned a 43-42 lead into a 59-46 behind the guns of Jeron Alvin Teng, Kiefer Ravena and Rolfe Von Pessumal.

Although in complete control, the Filipinos even went unrelenting on both ends of the court in the fourth and managed to build their biggest lead at 82-54, on the way to completing an ugly rout of the Malaysians, one of the three dangerous teams in the six-nation tournament that’s serving as qualifying for the Fiba Asia Under 18 in Yemen this September.