PHNOM PENH—Gilas Pilipinas goes for a finals spot on Monday when it faces Indonesia in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball tournament at the Morodok Techo Elephant Hall 2.
The Nationals will face Indonesia starting at 5 p.m. (6 p.m. in Manila).
The Philippines finished second in Group A with a 2-1 win-loss record, arranging a semifinal showdown with Indonesia, which swept Group B with an 87-69 win over Thailand Sunday.
Indonesia, bidding to retain the gold, has three naturalized players in its roster, which includes former Philippine Basketball Association import Lester Prosper.
Indonesia swept the Hanoi Games last year, including an 85-81 win over the Philippines in the final game of the round-robin tournament to grab the men’s basketball gold.
Gilas completed the group stage with a 105-45 win over Singapore to clinch a semifinal berth. Coach Chot Reyes expressed satisfaction with their play on Saturday after using the Singapore game as preparation for the semifinal round.
“There were certain things on offense and defense that we wanted to execute. More than scoring the points, we were able to do that,” Reyes said.
Marcio Lassiter, CJ Perez and Justin Brownlee got their games going in the first half on their way to combining for 41 points against Singapore.
Reyes hopes that the team has gotten used to the heat at the Elephant Hall 2, which became an issue during the Cambodia game where they lost.
“Again, the heat in the 1 p.m. game is different from the 5 p.m. game especially if the stadium is full. Again, that was the problem that we had (against Cambodia). Hopefully, we have adjusted better for the semifinals,” said Reyes.
The women’s team will play its final game of the tournament against Malaysia as they go for a podium finish at 11 a.m. (12 noon in Manila).