Southeast Asian Games 2019 Semi-Finals: Gilas Pilipinas, Thailand Advance

Gilas Pilipinas will take on Thailand in the gold medal match of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games after they progressed through their respective semi-finals on Monday.

Gilas beat Indonesia 97-70 at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay, the Philippines, after Thailand had overcome Vietnam 101-95.

The hosts wasted no time in taking an early 7-0 lead over Indonesia. Christian Standhardinger scored after an alley-oop dunk from Japeth Paul Aguilar and a Stanley Pringle shot from beyond the arc.

Indonesia responded with three triples in a row, but they still found themselves 24-20 down by the end of the first quarter.

Standhardinger had enjoyed a strong start to the game:

A lower-scoring second quarter saw Gilas Pilipinas extend their lead to 39-28.

Sports writer Richard Dy and ESPN5 gave some insight into how the two teams had performed by the interval:

Gilas pulled away in the third quarter as they piled another 39 points on to the scoreboard.

Christopher Ross, Matthew Wright and Marcio Lassiter helped them along the way with several triples:

Indonesia managed to outscore Gilas in the final quarter as the hosts eased off, but they were only able to reduce the deficit by six points.

In the earlier semi-final, Thailand had come from behind after Vietnam took a narrow 31-28 lead in the first quarter.

Thailand were 53-52 in front by half-time, though, and they extended their lead to six points over the course of two tight quarters in the second half.

The final between the Philippines and Thailand will take place on Tuesday, as will the third-place play-off between Vietnam and Indonesia.