Janine Pontejos and Khate Castillo provided a deadly one-two punch as Gilas Pilipinas snared the silver medal in the 5-on-5 women’s basketball competitions in the Southeast Asian Games after taking down Malaysia, 77-63, at the Elephant Hall 2 Morodok Techo National Stadium on Monday, May 15.
The two combined for nine of the team’s 14 triples as the Filipinas took control of the contest in the first half with their outside sniping before staving off a late resistance from the Malaysians to finish with a second-best record of 5-1 slate in the biennial meet. Pontejos fired away 24 points spiked by five three-point connections while Castillo provided support with 18, built on four triples – none bigger than the dagger she drilled with only 2:06 left to restore a 17-point lead and slam any hopes of Malaysian comeback in the end game. Indonesia nabbed the gold from Gilas after a sweep of the tournament with a 6-0 record while Malaysia settled for a bronze in a second straight edition with a 4-2 slate. The Malaysians, though, had their chance to improve their third place finish from last year but they were met by a hot-shooting Gilas in their final game in the tournament. Still raring to exact their revenge on Malaysia – the lone team that beaten Gilas’ in its gold medal run in the last edition – the Filipinas made sure to not left anything to chance as Pontejos immediately connected from deep to give Gilas a 21-10 control at the end of the opening frame. The lead ballooned to as many as 22 points, 51-29, early in the third frame but Malaysia mustered a strong finishing kick to come within 12 heading into the final quarter, 60-48. Malaysia kept itself within striking distance, even cutting the lead down to 10, 64-54 midway through the frame. That however proved to be the closest it could get as the Filipinas found answers to every Malaysian run,before Castillo hit the final nail in the coffin with her dagger trey that reestablished a 75-58 lead. Hui Pin Pang paced Malaysia with 15 points while Yin Yin Chong added 10 points and six rebounds.
*Veteran Janine Pontejos saves her finest performance for last, scattering 24 points on five triples to help Gilas Pilipinas secure the silver medal (
Ariya Kurniawan \| @ariyakurniawan16 on IG\)*
The two combined for nine of the team’s 14 triples as the Filipinas took control of the contest in the first half with their outside sniping before staving off a late resistance from the Malaysians to finish with a second-best record of 5-1 slate in the biennial meet. Pontejos fired away 24 points spiked by five three-point connections while Castillo provided support with 18, built on four triples – none bigger than the dagger she drilled with only 2:06 left to restore a 17-point lead and slam any hopes of Malaysian comeback in the end game. Indonesia nabbed the gold from Gilas after a sweep of the tournament with a 6-0 record while Malaysia settled for a bronze in a second straight edition with a 4-2 slate. The Malaysians, though, had their chance to improve their third place finish from last year but they were met by a hot-shooting Gilas in their final game in the tournament. Still raring to exact their revenge on Malaysia – the lone team that beaten Gilas’ in its gold medal run in the last edition – the Filipinas made sure to not left anything to chance as Pontejos immediately connected from deep to give Gilas a 21-10 control at the end of the opening frame. The lead ballooned to as many as 22 points, 51-29, early in the third frame but Malaysia mustered a strong finishing kick to come within 12 heading into the final quarter, 60-48. Malaysia kept itself within striking distance, even cutting the lead down to 10, 64-54 midway through the frame. That however proved to be the closest it could get as the Filipinas found answers to every Malaysian run,before Castillo hit the final nail in the coffin with her dagger trey that reestablished a 75-58 lead. Hui Pin Pang paced Malaysia with 15 points while Yin Yin Chong added 10 points and six rebounds.