Gilas Pilipinas Open 2017 Southeast Asian Games with Win vs. Thailand

Gilas Pilipinas was surprisingly eliminated from the FIBA Asia Cup early in the knockout phase. They nearly opened the Southeast Asian Games with another disappointment but narrowly escaped with a win, defeating Thailand 81-74.

The Philippines took an early lead and seemed in control of the contest, but it promptly blew a 10-point lead in the second quarter and found itself in a tightly contested battle. Gilas pulled away late in the fourth quarter, however, securing the victory.

Both Troy Rosario (16 points, 10 rebounds) and Christian Standhardinger (15 points, 10 rebounds) notched double-doubles for Gilas, pacing the team's performance. Bobby Parks Jr. added 14 points for the Philippines, while Tyler Lamb led Thailand with 17 points.

It wasn't the strongest showing from Gilas, however, finishing 6-of-30 from beyond the arc and outrebounded 50-42. 

And despite getting to the charity stripe 26 times, the team made just 15 free throws.  

Still, for a squad largely made up of younger players from the country's national team program, opening with a win was crucial. Gilas will look to build on that resilient performance when it faces Myanmar on Tuesday, while Thailand are next in action against Malaysia on Monday.