MALACCA—Nothing but a sweet sweep for Perlas Pilipinas.
A day after assuring themselves of a gold medal finish in the SEABA Women’s Championship, the country’s cagebelles reasserted their dominance one last time here late Sunday night by drubbing Thailand, 72-52, at the Bukit Serendit Indoor Stadium.
Facing a team it hasn’t beaten for a long time, head coach Patrick Aquino used it as motivation for the Filipinas, who relied on a big second quarter run to shake off a slow start and wrest the upper hand from the Thais.
The Filipinas trailed, 13-16, by the end of the first period, but a 12-2 run anchored on Afril Bernardino enabled Perlas Pilipinas to gain control of the match and led 32-22, a minute before the half time break.
Bernardino then combined forces with Shelley Gupilan in another backbreaking run, a 17-3 assault, giving the Philippines a 57-40 advantage.
Like in the previous game, Allana Lim led the Filipinas’ production with 15 points and four rebounds, while Bernardino had another double-double output of 14 points and 11 boards.
Chered on by a good-sized Filipino crowd, who took advantage to spend their Sunday supporting the national squad, Perlas Pilipinas made sure it won’t let its kababayan down.
“It feels good to receive such a warm welcome from our fellow Filipinos based here. They rally made an effort to come out here and support us. We want to reward them with a win,” said Aquino.
Perlas Pilipinas is scheduled to receive its gold medal from theorganizing Malaysian Basketball Association and sanctioning SEABA. The team is the second Philippine representatives to win a gold medal in the women’s division of this tournament after the 2010 squad coached by Heidi Ong.
“We haven’t beaten Thailand for a long time,” added Aquino. “I think it’s one way of motivating them and ending the tournament on a winning note.”
