MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines men’s national basketball team recovered from a tentative start before ripping the game wide open in the final half for win No. 2 in the form of a 110-69 rout of Vietnam Friday night in the 30th Southeast Asian Games before an appreciative crowd at Mall of Asia Arena.

The win shoved the Philippines on top of Group A with 2-0 win-loss record and is headed towards an easy task opposite Myanmar this Saturday, 07 December 2019.

Gilas Pilipinas debuted the SEAG men’s basketball tournament with a 110-58 blowout win over Singapore.

But unlike Singapore, head coach Tim Cone was reportedly more wary of Vietnam as it waylaid Myanmar, 131-52, on Wednesday; in a similar manner how PH crushed Singapore.

And indeed, Vietnam, proved a much tougher nut to crack especially in the first two quarters of the game although the Philippines managed to erect a 12-point advantage at the half, 52-40.

A decisive 10-0 blast, however, in the first three minutes of play in third, allowed the Philippines to pull away 62-40, for good.

And with Jun Mar Fajardo teaming up with Stanley Pringle, Vic Manuel, who muscled his way inside the paint for 14 points in his Gilas debut with Singapore, Gilas simply ripped the game open with still eight minutes left in the fourth quarter.

An and-1 of Japeth Paul Aguilar put PH too far ahead 90-59 before Kiefer Ravena nailed a trey from beyond the arc that padded the lead further to 93-59. Gilas never looked back from there. (IAMIGO/CNS)