Gilas falls to loaded Cambodia squad

MANILA, Philippines – The Gilas Pilipinas men’s team struggled against a souped-up Cambodia squad, shooting poorly as they absorbed a 79-68 setback in their clash in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games at the Morodok Techo National Stadium Elephant Hall 2 in Phnom Penh Thursday.

The Filipinos had trouble matching the size, athleticism, intensity of the Cambodia squad that leaned heavily on naturalized players Darrin Dorsey, Brandon Peterson and Sayeed Pridgett en route to their first loss in this edition of the biennial meet.

The Gilas cagers managed to convert only 28 of their 76 field goal attempts, including a poor 5-of-20 from 3-point range, compared to their counterparts, who hit 12 of their 36 attempts from beyond the arc.

The host team created separation as early as the opening period, mounting a lead as much as 14 points, 26-12, which they protected throughout the game by weathering Gilas’ rally attempts while consistently knocking down their own shots.

Justin Brownlee, whose dismal offensive game was felt heavily by the Nationals, helped cut Cambodia’s lead to 10, 50-40, after an and-one dunk play early in the third frame. But the Cambodians responded with a 7-0 run to keep the Philippines at bay and never looked back from there.

Dorsey top-scored for Cambodia with 22 points while Pridgett and Oscar Lopez scattered 17 and 13 points, respectively for the host nation, which is currently ranked 157th in the world by FIBA.

Christian Standhardinger led the World No. 40-ranked Gilas with 14 points followed by Chris Newsome with 11. Brownlee finished with only 10 markers.

Gilas will wrap up its group assignments on Saturday, May 13, against Singapore.