It took everything they had to make it to the gold medal match.
Gilas Pilipinas dug deep within its reserves to outlast defending champion Indonesia in the semifinals of the 32nd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games’ men’s basketball tournament.
Going up against a well-prepared Indonesian side that featured three naturalized players was a tough task. But the Filipino hoopers understood the assignment. The only way to win was to give everything they’ve got, down to the last drop of energy. And that they did on Monday night in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Amid subpar ventilation at the Morodok Techo Sports Complex, and Indonesia’s spirited title defense, Justin Brownlee, Brandon Ganuelas-Rosser, and Chris Newsome came up clutch and were able to drag Gilas to the finish line. By the end of the hard-fought game, everyone was spent.
To fully understand how grueling the war was, peep this video from One Sports’ SEA Games correspondent Paolo Del Rosario, wherein Newsome is seen lying on the floor of the Philippine team’s dugout from exhaustion.
As seen on the clip, the Meralco Bolts star could barely move. He had ice on his head and torso as he desperately tried to cool down. When asked what he was feeling exactly, it took every bit of strength he had left to respond.
“Tired,” he barely said.
Brownlee led the way for the Philippines as he finished with 34 points. The second-highest scorer for the Filipinos was Ganuelas-Rosser who posted 13 markers, which included a dagger layup coming off a nice bounce pass from JB. While Newsome only recorded 4 points, his defense down the stretch was super clutch. He had crucial rebounds, deflections, and steals. He was that guy who was always first to dive for the 50-50 balls.
The hope now for Gilas is that Newsome and the rest of his teammates could recuperate fast enough for the gold medal match later at 4pm against the heavily-reinforced host country.