The Gilas Pilipinas squad played near-perfect hoops on Tuesday, clobbering an outclassed Cambodian side, 100-32, for its second straight win in the men’s basketball tournament of the 31st Southeast Asian Games at the Thanh Tri District Sporting Hall in Hanoi.
Young recruit Francis “LeBron” Lopez led the way for the Filipinos with a game-high 17 points, to go with five rebounds and two shot blocks en route to the 68-point blowout.
Overnight, the Filipinos regained their cape of invincibility following a hard-earned win against a vastly improved Thailand squad in their opening game.
Nonetheless, this latest version of Gilas appears headed to its 14th straight gold medal in the regional biennial meet, where the Philippines is branded as “Team USA” in this part of the world.
Sidelined in the game against Thailand, Lopez made sure to impress big against the Cambodians as the Philippines raced to a 32-9 lead in the first quarter, where the Cambodians briefly held the lead, 5-6.
There was no looking back from there as Gilas Pilipinas closed out the first half with a 57-17 lead.
Aiding Lopez were William Navarro, who had 16 points and 7 rebounds, and Jaydee Tungcab with 14 points and five steals.
The Filipinos go for their third straight win as they face Singapore next on Wednesday
