Wright, Jalalon, Pogoy complete Seaba final 12
Game tomorrow (Cebu) 7:30 p.m. – Gilas vs PBA Visayas
LUCENA – PBA rookies Matthew Wright, Jio Jalalon and RR Pogoy complete the Gilas Pilipinas cast tapped by coach Chot Reyes to do battle in the SEABA Championship on May 12-18 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
Wright, Jalalon and Pogoy team up with naturalized player Andray Blatche and eight PBA veterans as they carry the task of ensuring the country’s participation in the FIBA Asia Cup in Beirut, Lebanon in August.
Calvin Abueva, Japeth Aguilar, Raymond Almazan, June Mar Fajardo, Allein Maliksi, Terrence Romeo, Troy Rosario and Jayson Castro are the PBA veterans who, from the start, were deemed shoo-ins to make the Final 12 from the 26-man training pool.
Reyes named his Final 12 after the second leg of the PBA All-Star series at the Quezon Convention Center in Lucena.
Blatche, set to arrive in the country anytime from Monday, and his teammates compete in the SEABA joust which presents the country its lone shot at the FIBA Asia tourney.
Reyes said SEABA is the first step in the country’s long journey towards the World Championship in 2019 and the Olympics in 2020 “that’s why I don’t want to call it the Final 12 but the SEABA 12.”
Players who failed to make the SEABA 12 will later be recalled to rejoin the pool as SBP prepares for
two separate tourneys in August – the FIBA Asia Cup and the SEA Games in Malaysia.
Prior to the announcement of the SEABA 12, Gilas Pilipinas turned back PBA Luzon, 122-111, on a fiery 17-1 windup in the Lucena game.
Jonathan Grey top scored with 19 points, Mike Tolomia and Matthew Wright fired 15 apiece while LA Revilla came through with 11 rebounds, nine markers and six assists for Gilas.
Wright, who also came up with seven assists, one rebound and one steal against four turnovers, won the Cloudfone All-Star MVP honors, the same award he shared with Rosario in Cagayan de Oro.
Aguilar, Abueva, StanleyMarcio numbers Pringle, Lassiter for Alex deliveredthe CabagnotLuzon doubledigitstars and who enjoyed a 17-point spread before tapering off and subsequently losing the match.
Maliksi, Meralco high-flyer Chris Newsome and Rain or Shine guard Maverick Ahanmisi put on a show of accuracy and artistry as they pulled off heart-pounding triumphs in the All-Star Skills Competitions early on.
Newsome claimed the Slam Dunk crown he let slip away last year, Maliksi outgunned them all in his first try in the Three-Point Shootout while Ahanmisi successfully defended his title as the Obstacle Challenge champ. But the three of them were pushed to the limit at least by their closest rivals in the exciting skills competitions that drew ooohs and aaahs from the sellout crowd. Newsome barely topped GlobalPort’s James Forrester in their aerial duel, Maliksi beat Ginebra’s LA Tenorio in a shootout finale that went down to the last ball while Ahanmisi clung on to his crown by beating SMB’s Alex Cabagnot virtually by a stride. A heartbreak kid last year, Newsome won what he narrowly missed the last time, ending the three-year reign of Rey Guevarra as the sultan of slams. Newsome and Forrester easily stood out in the two-round elims also participated in by Alaska’s Marion Magat and Jamer Jamito.
The scores: Gilas Pilipinas 122 – Grey 19, Tolomia 15, Wright 15, Cruz 13, Rosario 12, Almazan 10, Revilla 9, Maliksi 9, Ferrer 8, Torres 8, Guinto 2, Vosotros 2, Gotladera 0, Daquioag 0.
Luzon All-Stars 111 – Aguilar 18, Abueva 16, Pringle 15, Cabagnot 12, Lassiter 12, Washington 9, De Ocampo 9, Santos 8, Lee 5, Tenorio 3, Caguioa 2, Castro 2.
Quarterscores: 30-34, 55-62, 85-94, 122-111