The Gilas Cadets national squad won the recently concluded 5th SEABA Stankovic Cup by defeating the home team of Thailand as they showcased their basketball skills on their late-game heroics to demolish the host team Thailand with the final score of 97-80. The Gilas Cadets squad was headed by veteran FEU stars Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia.
Mac Belo, the former star of the FEU Tamaraws scored an impressive two straight threes and scored on a layup on the next sequence before Jiovani Jalalon leads the teamwith 10-0 charge with a drive that allowed the Filipinos to pull away with a double-digit advantage halfway through the final quarter.
FEU star Mike Tolomia also joined Belo and Jalalon on their offensive onslaught for Gilas Pilipinas Cadets, scoring eight straight points, including a three from way out, that finally took the fight out of the Thais who were enjoying a home court advantage during the entire Stankovic Cup.
National University star and Talk ‘N Text big man Troy Rosario scored with 17 points and seven rebounds while Jiovani Jalalon finished with 16 points, but the most impressive among the Gilas Cadets were the performances of Mac Belo and Mike Tolomia.
Before the championship round of the 5th SEABA Stankovic Cup, the Thailander nearly pulled off an upset when they faced the Filipinos in the preliminaries but the Southeast Asian king of basketball, Philippines won the game.
The scores:
GILAS 97—Rosario 17, Jalalon 16, Belo 14, Tolomia 12, Vosotros 11, Pogoy 10, Ferrer 8, Escoto 6, Jose 2, Pessumal 1, Holmqvist 0, Tibayan 0.
THAILAND 80—Ananti 19, Chanthachon 11, Lertmalai(–foul word(s) removed–) 11, Samerjai 10, C. Klahan 9, P. Klahan 8, Jaisanuk 6, Lakhan 6, Towaroj 0, Ghogar 0, Apiromvilaichai 0.
Quarters: 22-all, 49-45, 67-62, 97-80