The Philippines once again reign as kings of basketball in the Southeast Asian region.
Gilas Pilipinas secured the 58th gold medal of the Philippines in the 2023 Southeast Asian Games after besting Cambodia, 80-69, on Tuesday, May 16, in front of the latter's home crowd.
Justin Brownlee scored 23 points and Chris Newsome added 16 points for the Filipinos to avenge their 79-68 loss at the hands of Cambodia during the group stage of the tournament.
The Philippines went up by 13 points at most during the match but back-to-back baskets by Dwayne Morgan and Pridgett Sayeedalkabir allowed Cambodia to close the gap, 64-59, at the start of the final period.
Three-pointers by Brownlee and Newsome stopped the rally of Cambodia and brought the lead Gilas back to double-digits.
At the end of the first quarter, the host team still has the lead, 22-21, before a three-point basket by Brownlee and a free throw from Christian Standhardinger allowed the Filipinos to go up, 25-22.
Dorsey Darrinray managed to tie the score for Cambodia, 25-all.
However, the Philippines seized the lead for good following a three-pointer by Marcio Lassiter, and baskets by Standhardinger and Newsome.
Peterson Brandon Jerome finished with 18 points and 14 rebounds while Darrinray registered 17 points as the Cambodians fell short of sweeping the competition.
Gilas Pilipinas earlier bagged a spot in the gold medal by defeating the defending champions, Indonesia, 84-76, in the semifinals.
