THE Philippine men's basketball team tries to pick up the pieces of its shattered pride as it takes on Singapore in the penultimate day of group stage in the 32nd Southeast Asian Games in Cambodia.
How the Filipinos bounce back from a major setback will be put to a test against the still winless Singapore team Saturday 2 p.m. (Manila time) at the Morodok Techo National Stadium Elephant Hall 2.
Gilas Pilipinas fell against a Cambodian side featuring six naturalized players Thursday night, 79-68, for its first loss in the meet and evened its record at 1-1 in Group A in a tie with Malaysia. The Filipinos drubbed the Malaysians in the opener, 94-49.
Cambodia is top in the group with a 2-0 slate while Singapore is 0-2.
The Philippines will be looking to win the game against Singapore to formalize its entry into the crossover semis as the second seeded unit in its group.
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Coach Chot Reyes raised concern over the condition of the playing venue and the health of naturalized player Justin Brownlee, who got severely dehydrated due to the humid weather that left him struggling for almost the entire game and shot just 3-of-13 from the floor to finish with 10 points.
But the national coach stressed there should be no excuses.
"I'm not here to make excuses," said Reyes. "We move on, we go to the next game, and then be prepared for the knockout semifinals."
In Group B, defending champion Indonesia and Thailand are both tied on top with similar 1-0 records, while Vietnam and Laos are 0-1.
The semis is set on Monday, with Group A top seed facing Group B no. 2, and Group B no. 1 taking on the no. 2 in Group A. (RG)
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