Gilas routs Malaysia, gets ready for Cambodia

PHNOM PENH—Gilas Pilipinas started its redemption bid with a 94-49 win over Malaysia Tuesday in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games men’s basketball meet at the Morodok Techo National Stadium Elephant Hall 2.

Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser had 15 points and five rebounds, while Justin Brownlee made 11 points and four rebounds in his SEA Games’ debut.

Arvin Tolentino had 10 points, while La Salle big man Michael Phillips had 9 points and 15 rebounds as Gilas Pilipinas dominated the ballgame right from the opening tip.

Justin Brownlee

“We challenged the first group to get us off to a good start. It’s really their responsibility to start us off well,” said Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes.

The team takes a one-day break before battling host Cambodia, which is beefed up by six naturalized players including the trio of Sayeed Pridget, Brandon Peterson, and Darrin Dorsey, members of the 3x3 team that won the gold.

The respite will also enable Calvin Oftana to heal after suffering a strained calf muscle after a slip in the first half.

“We have a casualty right away. Calvin Oftana strained a

Game Thursday (Morodok Elephant Hall 2) 5 p.m. (6 p.m. Manila time) –Philippines vs. Cambodia calf muscle that’s why we didn’t play him anymore in the second half,” Reyes said. The women’s competition begins Wednesday, with the Philippines battling Cambodia at 3 p.m. (4 p.m. Philippine time) Gilas took a 33-12 lead at the end of the first quarter and never looked back, even leading by as much as 50 points.

Phillips wowed the Filipino fans at the venue with his energy, highlighted by two slams.

Obiena plays hero to young Tuguegarao pole vaulters

By Riera U. Mallari

PHNOM PENH—Not all heroes wear capes.

One of them leaps over things in order to win shiny things. He then auctions off some of his things to help out less-fortunate folks do their thing.

A hero in the eyes of many young and budding athletes, superstar pole vaulter Ernest John Obiena leaped to a record-smashing 5.65 meters to claim a shimmering third straight gold at the rain-drenched Morodok Techo National Stadium in Phnom Penh on Monday.

Like in his past wins that began in the 2019 edition of the games in Manila, Obiena obliterated the field with another masterclass pole-vaulting, the pouring rain notwithstanding.

After an hourlong delay of the proceedings due to the heavy downpour, Obiena couldn’t be stopped from four successful leaps of 5.4, 5.55, 5.60 and then at 5.65 meters to the wild celebration of a couple of national team members and coaches, and a handful of Filipino supporters at the grandstand.

The no. 3-ranked pole vaulter in the world, with a career best 5.94, said he could have aimed for a higher mark, but was already exhausted from the long wait and the slippery ground and pole.

“Man, I’m tired. If I have more energy, maybe I should have, I could have (gone higher), but it’s early in the season. I’m still panting, pagod na tayo,” said Obiena of his performance that was already so dominant, the second and third placers from Thailand could only manage an error-filled 5.2 meters. The masterpiece on the field was all Obiena needed to catch the world’s attention on what he would do next off it—give the blessings back. When asked what’s next in his journey, he could have itemized the next tournaments he planned to join. Instead, he first took time to tell the world that he was auctioning off the shoes he wore at the games to raise funds for Filipino kids to fulfill their dream of becoming pole vaulters someday. bore fruit as Ubas was able to fend off the leaps of eventual runner-up, Vietnamese Tien Trong Nguyen’s 7.66 and third placer, Indonesian Sapwaturrahman’s 7.62.

Ubas actually showed a glimpse of his new-found leaping prowess when he set a new SEA Games’ and Philippine record of 8.08 meters in the long jump event of the decathlon on Monday, becoming the first Filipino to go over 8 meters.

Strangely, Ubas hardly looked like a man who was ready to quit the sport, what with all the runnerup finishes that may have sapped his winning drive dry.

“Dati, parang ayaw ko na, pero ngayon, nagbago na, gusto ko na ulet mag-training araw araw,” Ubas said.

Indeed, winning cures everything. Especially if it’s as sweet as Ubas’.