U21 Press Release: Pilipinas defeats Singapore, 91-57
Second half onslaught led to rout
There were no words from Coach Jeorge during the half time break. Instead, the team watched a video presentation on leadership and commitment to get his point across. The players got the message, loud and clear.
After a lackluster performance in the first half against Singapore, the Filipinos outscored their Southeast Asian neighbors, 58-27 in the second half to win 91-57 at the Arena in Hong Kong. For the Filipino fan base in Hong Kong, mostly composed of OFWs, this was a sigh of relief. “I asked my employer if I can take my day off today to watch our team, I am very lucky they agreed,” said a migrant worker, who asked to remain anonymous. “I am so happy we won. I thought I would see them lose against Singapore.”
“We did not talk. Instead, I had my boys watch Invictus during the break, specifically the scene where South Africa had to defend against New Zealand for seven minutes.”
“Heads up! Look into my eyes… Do you hear? Listen to your country!” were the words South African Rugby captain François Pienaar said to his team when faced with a resilient New Zealand squad in the 1995 Rugby World Cup Final. The Filipino players were heard shouting war cries from the locker room before coming out to play the second half. An estimated 10,000 Filipinos were in attendance to watch the game.
It was a surprising turnaround for the Filipinos, allowing the Singaporean to score only 8 points in the third quarter. “Our offense fell flat in the second half; I do not know what else to say. We contained them (Pilipinas) in the first half and we were hoping to keep it close. We are a small country with few teams, so I still happy with what we achieved today,” Singaporean coach BuzzRBeater said during their post-game conference.
“We have a lot of countrymen counting on us to win this tournament, how can we let them down? We will face our toughest opponent in this bracket next week, so we need all the support we can get,” said Coach Jeorge as they were entering the locker room after the game.
Merchenito Dagiagnao led the Filipinos with Terrence Ross-like line of 20 points, 2 rebounds, 3 assists, and 1 steal in 27 minutes of action. They are expected to keep it close against powerhouse Taiwan (ranked 7th) next week.
Guard Chenbagarajan Ali led the Singaporeans with 15 points, 4 rebounds, 2 steals, and 1 block in 35 minutes. They are going to play 41st ranked New Zealand to close the elimination phase of the tournament.