by Regina Antonio
Filipino athletes proved that they are strong competitors among international teams after Gilas Pilipinas almost reaped the gold medal until the towering Iranian cagers outwitted them, placing the Gilas’ Team into the second place.
But the Philippine team did not stop pushing themselves unto winning gold which they made into reality after they dominated the six games in the 27th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games held at Malaysia last December.
The last match of the team was a match against Malaysia, leading to their victory ending the game with a score of 84-56.
The Sinag Pilipinas is headed by Jong Uichico who was also the Assistant Coach of Meralco Bolts in the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA). Their mentor, Norman Black is a rookie coach in the SEA Games level and also the coach of Talk ‘n Text.
Meanwhile, the team players were comprised of amateurs and collegiate standouts namely Greg Slaughter and Kiefer Ravena who are both from Ateneo Blue Eagles’ squad, Rayray Parks who is Bobby Parks’ son and National University Bulldogs’ star player, Kevin Alas from Collegio San Juan de Letran, Roi Sumang, point guard in the University of the East’s Red Warriors, San Beda’s Kevin Ferrer, Garvo Lanete and Jake Pascual are also in the team. Adamson’s Jericho Cruz and Mac Belo from Far East University completed the team. Joining them are fellow naturalized Filipino imports, Matt Ganuelas who is currently a rookie for Smart Gilas and Marcus Douthit, center player of Gilas Pilipinas Team made the squad standout among the other competitors in the SEA Games.
Our country’s basketball team indeed took this competition on a higher level and reaped Gold for our country. They are now e heroes who are proudly hoisting our flag in international competitions and showing other races what Filipinos can really do.
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