The Smart Gilas Pilipinas got plenty of contributions from Chris Lutz and Japeth Aguilar as they cruised to an easy 94-54 win over hosts Indonesia in the ongoing 9th Southeast Asian Basketball Association Men’s Championship at the BritAma Arena in Jakarta.
The Nationals got 20 points from Lutz while Aguilar tallied 19 built on five thunderous slam dunks as the Gilas captured their second win as many games.
The Nationals sent the hosts in foul trouble early, seizing a 20-9 lead built on 12 free throws and Marcus Douthit’s incursions before exploiting the open court for a 27-point halftime bubble that never got threatened the rest of the way.
With the win, the Filipinos, who downed the Malaysians on Thursday, are guaranteed of a seat in the Fiba Asia Championship in Wuhan, China on Sept. 15 to 25, the qualifier for the 2012 London Olympics.
Malaysia and Indonesia, which split their first two matches, are hoping to book the two other available tickets to Wuhan in this four-nation meet.
The Gilas were still playing Singapore as of press time. A win there will automatically give Malaysia and Indonesia slots in the aforementioned meet.
Smart Gilas went 30 of 54 (56 percent) from the field, converted 30 of 42 freethrows and passed the ball exceptionally well for 17 assists.
Douthit scored seven of his 11 points in the opening quarter, Dylan Ababou had 13 points and accounted for five of the team’s nine steals while JV Casio added eight points and seven assists.
Smart Gilas made it 71-38 after the third and erected the largest lead of the night, 94-48, on a Mac Baracael feed to a soaring Aguilar for another rim-rattler that netted a three-point play.
Box scores:
SMART GILAS 94 – Lutz 20, Aguilar 19, Ababou 13, Douthit 11, Casio 8, Baracael 7, Barroca 6, Tiu 6, Ballesteros 4.
INDONESIA 54 – Poedjakesuma 10, Prawiro 8, Thoyib 8, Indrawan 6, Prihantono 5, Wuysang 5, Situmorang 4, Aryo 2, Ahmad 2, Gunawan 2, Setepu 2.