Tim Cone was wary of Vietnam coming into Friday's game, and for at least one half, his fears looked legitimate. It took five-time PBA Most Valuable Player June Mar Fajardo's inside dominance as well as LA Tenorio's 3-point shooting to rally the Gilas Pilipinas offense in the second half en route to a 110-69 drubbing of Vietnam at the Southeast Games at Mall of Asia Arena.
Gilas improved to 2-0 to lead Group A and is poised to sweep its bracket when it faces Myanmar Saturday at 8:15 p.m. Gilas has already secured a spot in the knockout semifinals set to start on Monday. Vietnam absorbed just its first loss in the tourney after winning its first two games against Myanmar, 131-52 and Singapore, 99-78. Vietnam is still going to the semis for the first time.
"We weren't pleased with our first half performance. We didn't feel like we were moving the ball like the way we did the first game (against Singapore)," Cone said. "[Vietnam] defended a lot better than Singapore. We're playing with the same energy we wanted to see, but we're giving a lot of free throws and fouls. So this is more of mental than physical."
Cone pointed to Fajardo as the key to the win. Fajardo overpowered every defender thrown at him. Fajardo led Gilas with a double-double of 23 points and 12 rebounds, making the most of his two-quarter exposure under Cone's equal opportunity scheme. Fajardo scored 11 in the opening quarter, before adding 12 in the third canto to help Gilas turn a slim 52-40 halftime edge into a 72-49 lead.
"We knew they didn't have anyone to match up to him. He's a five-time MVP and there's a reason why he's the five-time MVP. And he showed it tonight," Cone said.
Tenorio, Ginebra key playmaker, added 14 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists.
Vic Manuel also added 14, Stanley Pringle had 11, while Greg Slaughter came off the bench to chip in 10.
Christopher Dierker led Vietnam with a near double-double of 28 points and 9 rebounds.
THE SCORES
GILAS PILIPINAS - Fajardo 23, Tenorio 14, Manuel 14, Rosario 12, Pringle 11, Slaughter 10, Wright 7, Aguilar 6, Lassiter 6, Ravena 5, Ross 1, Standhardinger 1
VIETNAM - Dierker 28, Duong Justin Young 13, Dang Khoa Tran 7, Hieu Thanh Le 6, Thanh Tam Dinh 5, Huynh Phu Vinh Nguyen 4, Thanh Sang Dinh 3, Kim Ban Vo 2, Minh An Du 1, Tuan Tu Stefan Nguyen 0
EXTRA DRIBBLES
Gilas Pilipinas' massive size advantage was evident after dominating Vietnam in the rebounding department, 69-30. The Filipinos also enjoyed a sizeable 60-22 points inside the paint.
Christopher Dierker and Justin Young are both American-Vietnamese. Dierker was named Vietnamese Basketball League Heritage MVP in 2018, while Young was the 2016 VBA Defensive Player.