Japeth Aguilar finished with a game-high 23 points and a remarkable 10 of 10 shooting from the field to lead Gilas Pilipinas past Thailand 108-53 in the SEABA Championship on Tuesday. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News

MANILA, Philippines – (UPDATED) Gilas Pilipinas found itself tested for the first time in the Southeast Asian Basketball Association Championship, but still proved too strong for Thailand as the hosts came away with a dominant 108-53 on Tuesday evening at the Araneta Coliseum.

Japeth Aguilar led Gilas' uprising in the second quarter to turn what was a close game into a rout, and Allein Maliksi and Matthew Wright put the finishing touches with an outside shooting display in the final quarter.

The Filipinos improved to 4-0 in the tournament, joining idle Indonesia at the top of the league standings, while dropping Thailand to a 3-2 win-loss record.

"My first words in the pregame is we will be tested in this ball game," Gilas Pilipinas coach Chot Reyes said after the game. "Thailand is playing very well — they're long, they're athletic, and they're well coached."

SEABA standings Team Wins Losses Points for Points against Diff Philippines 4 0 474 210 264 Indonesia 4 0 289 203 86 Thailand 3 2 364 319 45 Malaysia 2 3 291 369 -78 Singapore 1 3 242 261 -19 Vietnam 1 3 263 301 -38 Myanmar 0 4 151 411 -260 After May 16 games

"We knew we would struggle, that we would get tested in this game. But once we got used to their length, we were able to make some adjustments," he added. "Our second unit gave us a great lift."

For the first time in the tournament, the Filipinos started slowly, mustering only 18 points in the opening frame while giving away 14 to Thailand. They missed shots they normally make, while Thailand's outside shots found their mark.

The momentum shifted in the second period when Reyes sent in his shock troopers. The Filipinos began to push the pace, with Aguilar providing huge plays on both ends of the floor. His highlight reel slam dunk at the 7:06 mark gave the Philippines its first double-digit spread, 29-18, of the game.

Aguilar added a three-pointer and another dunk off an alley-oop from Jio Jalalon, while Calvin Abueva contributed a four-point play as the Filipinos proceeded to break the game open. Gilas Pilipinas wound up outscoring Thailand 33-12 in the second frame to head into the break with a comfortable 51-26 advantage.

"Japeth played a hell of a ball game," Reyes saidlater, after Aguilar came through with a tournament-best performance of 23 points on 10-of-10 shooting from the field.

"In the previous games, he was content with playing a support role. But today, when Thailand did a good job with our other offensive weapons, Japeth came through."

Gilas Pilipinas showed no let-up in the second half. Aguilar had a couple more slam dunks in the third period, while Terrence Romeo got untracked for back-to-back triples that pushed the lead to 75-39 with 2:14 left to play.

In the fourth quarter, it was Abueva's turn to take over offensively, as he repeatedly muscled his way into the paint for lay-ups. Maliksi and Wright then knocked down three-pointers to give the Philippines its biggest lead, 108-49, with 1:38 to go, before Thailand scored back-to-back lay-ups to peg the final score.

After struggling in the first quarter where they had five turnovers against only three assists, Gilas Pilipinas limited itself to only four turnovers the rest of the way, and finished with 24 assists. They shot 53% from the field, and every player that Reyes fielded scored at least two points.

"We wanted to continue our long rotation, because I feel that even our 11th and 12th guys are weapons off the bench," said Reyes.

What most pleased Reyes, however, was the defensive job that Gilas did against Thailand.

Wutipong Dasom, who had 40 points against Myanmar on Monday, scored only two, while their leading scorer, Chitchai Ananti, was scoreless. Ananti entered the game averaging 24.0 points in two games.

"We came to this ball game with the defensive focus of stopping No. 77 (Ananti)," Reyes explained. "We felt that he was Thailand's top scorer, and he scores in a lot of ways. We challenged our defenders to lock him down."

Teerawat Chanthachon wound up as Thailand's top scorer with 16 points, but as a team, the visitors made only 34% of their shots, including only three of 15 attempts from behind the arc.

Abueva had 15 points and six assists, while Romeo and Andray Blatche each had 11 points for Gilas Pilipinas.

The Philippines returns to action on Wednesday against Vietnam, while Thailand plays Singapore.

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