Cambodia have beaten the Philippines 79-68 in a shock victory during the preliminary rounds of the competition.
The Philippines who had are favorites to win the gold medal offered “no excuses” according to head coach Chot Reyes.
Cambodia 77 – Philippines 68
The Philippines struggled to get their grove and indeed get shots on target, but the opposite was the case for Cambodia, with Darrin Dorsey, Cambodia’s recently naturalized star forward netting 22 points.
At one point the host nation were 20 points up and while the visitors managed to narrow the gap, it was too little too late. And history was made. Previously Cambodia had never beaten the Philippines, something picked up the media of their media who had expected to cruise easily to the gold medal.
It as also reopened some controversy for the visitors, who have questioned the righteousness of Cambodia using naturalized players in their squad. Due to their former colonization by the USA Basketball is extremely popular in the Philippines, with them being seen as the best team in the Southeast Asian region.
Can Cambodia get the gold medal?
Cambodia led by Darrin Dorsey have already won gold at the 3×3 Basketball event and will be confident of winning in the main event, with the Philippines likely their main rivals going into the finals.
And after this victory the host nation now need not fear any other country going into the 2023 SEA Games Basketball medal stages.
This article is adapted from BPVE, (https://bpve.com/) reported and edited from the great team – Cambodia Sports Review. (https://www.cambodiasportsreview.com/)
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