Nationals rout Indonesia, bag title

The Smart Gilas-Pilipinas captured the title in the 9th Southeast Asian Basketball Association (SEABA) championship with a resounding, 89-50, win over Indonesia late Sunday night at the Brittama Arena in Jakarta.

With their mission of capturing a slot in the FIBA-Asia tournament in Wuhan, China, slated for September already done, the Nationals still came out with the same intensity that allowed them to bury the same Indonesian squad by 40 points in the elimination round.

As champion, together with the host and Malaysia, the Philippines will represent the region in the said tournament in pursuit of the lone Asian berth for the 2012 London Olympics.

Typifying the Nationals’ dominace in the tournament was their winning margin average of 40 points, running roughshod against Malaysia, 97-71, Indonesian, 94-54, and Singapore, 106-51, during the preliminaries.

Mark Barroca led the Philippine team with 17 points while Marcus Douthit added 16.

The Gilas raced to an early 23-6 lead and eventually ended the first 10 minutes of action on top by 21, 31-10.

Barroca made all his five shots including a triple in transition for 11 points to fuel the Filipinos’ early run.

However, the Gilas’ best came in the second half when it scored 17 straight unanswered points to start the third period.

BOX SCORES:

Pilipinas (89) – Barroca 17, Douthit 16, Tiu 13, Baracael 12, Aguilar 9, Lutz 7, Ababou 6, Casio 5, Ballesteros 4.

Indonesia (50) – Gunawan 14, Ahmad 12, Prawiro 11, Poedjakesuma 4, Indrawan 4, Prihantono 3, Setepu 2, Aryo 0, Chandra 0, Wuysang 0.