THE Pilipinas Aguilas downed Singapore’s Adroit Sports Association, 86-69, Thursday night to reach the semifinals of the Sportsclick Filbasket International Championship at the MABA Stadium in Kuala Lumpur.
They are the only one of three Filipino teams which advanced to the semifinals of the 10-team pocket tournament.
Former University of the East Red Warrior Biboy Enguio delivered for the Aguilas. He had 18 points, 11 rebounds and two assists for the Filipino club which completed the round-robin stage with a 3-1 record in Group A. Adroit went 0-4 in the tournament.
The Aguilas defense held the Singaporeans to 26 % shooting from the field and dominated the boards, 68 to 43. Adroit was without gunner Anthony Wong, who injured his ankle the day before.
The Aguilas take on Group B top team KL Aseel in the knockout semifinal at 6 p.m. Saturday.
The Shawarma Shack Makabayan Warriors, another Filipino team, failed to advance after a 61-59 loss to Malacca Basketball Club (MBC).
Jia Jun Lee finished with a game-high 18 points for MBC which finished the group stage with a 3-1 record. They play Harimau Malaysia in the second semifinal at 8 p.m. on Saturday.
Makabayan went 1-3 after the loss with Marcy Arellano leading his team with 13 points.
The Kuala Lumpur Aseel, already qualified for the semifinals, fell to Elang Pacific Caesar, 83-73, while Harimau Malaysia stayed perfect after beating Bumi Borneo, 98-77, in a Group A clash also on Thursday.
The Malaysian national team went 4-0 while Bumi Borneo of Indonesia fell to 2-2.